Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream
by Jairus
Summary: This is a novelization of the events of Final Fantasy VII, but with a different approach. Cloud and the others lay down the story in their own words, letting the truth of their journey be known that others might learn from it and make a better future. See the adventure from their own eyes, experiencing it in a way you never have before!
1. FOREWORD

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**FOREWORD**

_If you're reading this, then you've __no doubt__ heard __of__ us, or at least of what we did. Some say __that __we're heroes, others call us terrorists and tell us what happened was our fault. And maybe, to a certain extent, it was. I don't think anyone who __survived__ that day is completely without blame, __however__. We __all __took our __own __little piece of the world without__ giving __any thought __to __how much__ it might cost us._

_As it turned out, the price was almost too high for us to pay._

_A lot of people since then have tried to understand just what the hell happened and, even more importantly, _why _it happened. Everyone seems to have a different version of the story, and they usually vary widely from person to person. Some of them tend to be closer to the truth than others, and some, well… to be honest, what I've seen a lot of people say or write about us and our journey is either wrong or flat-out lies._

_Go to pretty much any bookstore today—in Kalm, Junon, or Wutai, for instance—and you can find shelves of books about Meteorfall and the near death of the planet, about us, Shinra, Sephiroth, planet theory, and so on. And the thing is, not one of them ever got it quite right. While I'm sure some of those authors meant well, I think most of them were just in it for the cash. And sadly, there's a hell of a lot of money to be made from selling half-truths and exaggerations and no shortage of people willing to believe every word of it._

_You'd be surprised at what hot sellers so many of these books still are even now, years after the fact. People unfortunately tend to believe what they're told most of the time and only rarely ask themselves whether what they've read and heard is really true. Far too often it's not, or at least not entirely, but most people seem to be so eager to hear only what they want to hear that they don't ever stop to think about things like that. But what we think we know isn't always right._

_I learned the hard way just how easy it is for us to fool ourselves into believing something's true when it isn't and how destructive it can be not just to ourselves, but to everyone around us, too. It's not a lesson you ever forget, trust me. But it's one you can learn from. The nightmare that was our journey to save the planet taught me that._

_The memories of those dark days are still as clear as yesterday in my mind, which is pretty ironic considering what my state of mind was back then. The pain is still there, too. I don't think it'll ever leave, to be honest. Some wounds just go too deep. You can learn to live with them, to accept them, but they'll never really heal. When I close my eyes, I can still smell the acrid stench of processed mako, feel the oppressive heat of Nibelheim burning to the ground, and hear the terrified screams of all the innocent people caught in the crossfire._

_I can see her eyes in my dreams._

_But now isn't the time to worry over what I should or shouldn't have done. It doesn't do any good, trust me. You can't change the past, but you can learn from it. That's what all this is about. You came here looking for the truth, and we're going to give it to you. It won't be pretty, and it won't be pleasant. But it'll be real, I can promise you that._

_It was Nanaki who first came up with the idea. I liked it, but I wasn't very sure how well this little endeavor would work out. After all, it's been several years since then, and although my own memories are still clear, I couldn't say the same for those of my friends. Time has this funny way of eroding those moments and softening their hard edges as the months and years go by. I suppose it's a blessing, but personally, I don't want to forget my pain. I need my pain. It makes me try even harder to avoid repeating the mistakes that caused it in the first place._

_As it turned out __though__, __my friends_ _all __remembered that strange and terrible journey as well and as clearly as I did. Saving the world from the workings of a lunatic isn't __really__ something you'd ever forget, especially if you had gone through __all __the hell we did. It's not something we really talk about all that much, but it was always with us, day after day. It sticks in the back of your mind, and as much as you try to move on, it's always __in__ there __waiting for you__. Being a hero isn't fun, and it isn't easy. Pain is part of the game if you want to go that way._

_Maybe that's what really brought us all together again, the chance to finally get into the open some of the regrets and fears and difficult choices that have kept all of us up late into the early hours of the morning far too many times to count. It took us the better part of a week to tell the whole story as we all sat around the great bonfire known as the Cosmo Candle, but in the end, I think the weight of my conscience eased a little. I'm sure the others felt much the same way._

_The elders of Cosmo Canyon took our words, wrote them down, and crafted them into a set of thick leather-bound volumes like history books. Come to think of it, that's exactly what they are. Hundreds of years from now, the books of our journey, of our history, will still be here. The elders take exceptionally good care of their records and writings, preserving the knowledge within them for future generations. And Nanaki himself has a pretty long time yet to live, so he'll still be there to watch over everything even after the rest of us—well, most of us, anyway—are long gone. You'll understand what I mean by that later._

_Each of us also had a digital voice recorder so that as we spoke, what we said could still be heard long after we were gone. Reading the books is one thing, but actually hearing us speak about what happened—listening firsthand to the people that had actually gone through it—might be even better and have even more of an impact on you all. We didn't want there to be any mistake about exactly who it was that had put this all together or about the truth behind it._

_I should __probably __warn you that everything here is presented almost exactly the way we said it. We didn't do __too __much editing because we felt that, more than anything __else__, it had to be real no matter how rough the edges __might be__. Some of the things you'll find out about us __in here __might __surprise you__. __Everyone knows __heroes aren't supposed to be human. __They aren't supposed to be __just __as weak and __vulnerable and __afraid as everyone else. Or at least that's the __bullshit __we've always been fed._

_W__hat __you have here, __what you're reading or listening to,_ _is the truth. __P__lain and simple. We __all __took turns telling what happened, what we saw and did, and in that close circle of friends, there were no secrets. Nothing is exaggerated or made up, no matter how strange it __might_ _sometimes be. __This is our story, told in our own words, __seen through our own eyes__. __But more importantly, it's __her story as well._

_I know she would appreciate it._

— Cloud Strife


	2. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - ONE

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**ONE**

This entire mess, or at least our part in it, all started with the attack on Mako Reactor 1 in Midgar. Back then, there was only Barret, Tifa, the original AVALANCHE crew—Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie—and me. I admit, I wasn't exactly thrilled when Tifa first offered me the job, but money had been getting pretty scarce what with Shinra's death grip on the economy. And Tifa could be damnably persistent when she wanted to be. At the time, I hadn't known why it had meant so much to her to keep me around, though it had been five years since we'd last seen each other. But I wondered if that was all there was to it.

Midgar itself was no picnic. Oh, the travel brochures and television ads all proclaimed it to be the greatest city in the world, where anyone could live like a king all thanks to Shinra's powerful new energy source, mako, which produced electricity more efficiently and cleanly than oil, coal, or other fuels ever could.

Of course, those ads would always show large pictures of pristine, well-kept avenues lined by glowing streetlights, and along those streets would be lots of luxurious apartment complexes and residential towers in front of which stood countless happy, content, and smiling families, all courtesy of Shinra, Inc.

As Barret will gladly tell you, that—like most everything else about Shinra—was nothing but a big, fat lie.

I wonder sometimes if people would still have moved to Midgar if those ads had shown the underside of the place, the beaten, run-down slums that didn't even have proper streets, just a bunch of muddy trails lined by mountains of discarded junk. Wood and metal shanties barely large enough to accommodate a single person usually housed three or four, and the air was always choked with a mess of unpleasant sounds and smells, most notably the stench of leaking mako, which in a lot of places was strong enough to make you gag if you tried to breathe too deeply, or even at all.

That was the world I found myself in late one afternoon, preparing myself for what I had thought would just be a simple bombing mission. Sneak in, plant the bomb, and sneak out.

Easy enough, or so I had believed, and I'd figured I'd get a decent amount of gil for it, too. Just a quick job to get some cash so I could get the hell out of this godforsaken city. Funny, though, how things tend to work out differently sometimes from what you want or what you think you want. According to an old mercenary's credo, no mission ever goes completely as planned.

In our case, it went straight to hell.

The train shot out of the tunnel and screeched to a halt next to the station, steam hissing out of it like the exhaled breath of some massive beast. I knelt above the shadowy juncture between two of the cars and eyed the platform as a pair of guards, bland fellows with crisp dark red uniforms, moved in to inspect the disembarking passengers.

Or so they thought.

Two figures, first one and then another, leapt down from the train and into the unsuspecting guards. The first tried to bring up his rifle, but a swift fist slammed into his nose by the larger of the two attackers quickly removed that option. The guard staggered backwards, his nose running red like a broken hydrant, and a second punch left him lying bonelessly on the concrete. His companion didn't fare any better as the other figure, a woman, thrust a booted, metal-shod foot solidly into his chest. The air whooshed out of his lungs as he dropped to the ground like a rag doll tossed by an angry child.

Wasting no time, the two assailants raced down the platform and hurried around a corner, flitting from shadow to shadow with barely a sound. A moment later, a third figure—a heavyset young man wearing a belt full of grenades around his waist—shambled out of the train and followed the others, and from the car behind me emerged the leader, a hulking, dark-skinned giant of a man.

He glanced indifferently at the two guards sprawled out upon the concrete as he headed onto the platform. Grunting with impatience, he turned and motioned to me with a sweep of his heavily muscled arm. A flaming skull tattoo grinned at me from one massive bicep. "C'mon, newcomer. Follow me."

Narrowing my eyes, I somersaulted down from my perch atop the train's roof and landed lightly on my toes. The leader of our little group was already disappearing around the corner up ahead as I searched the guards' pockets for anything that might be useful. They carried a few potions for emergencies, but that was all. I hadn't really expected much else. Call me a thief if you want, but when your life's on the line, all the niceties have a way of disappearing on you.

A pair of Shinra troopers in crisp blue uniforms and steel helmets suddenly emerged from around the corner where the others had gone, and I froze in midstep, falling instantly into a defensive crouch. At the sight of the motionless bodies of the unconscious guards, the troopers stopped at once and brandished their guns without a word, eyeing me distrustfully. _Guess I'll have to do this the hard way. _Reaching over my shoulder, I drew my sword as the troopers closed in.

I spun and ducked as one of the soldiers opened fire, and using my momentum, I sliced open his abdomen with a vicious backhand slash, then quickly reversed the stroke and impaled the second soldier before he could react. His gun slipped from his nerveless fingers and clattered onto the pavement as I carefully withdrew my sword from his chest. As the bodies collapsed limply to the ground, I hurried around the corner and ducked into a narrow alley, heading quickly toward the reactor, my eyes alert for any other unexpected visitors.

I slowed as I neared the gate leading to Sector 1, aware of the small group of figures huddled furtively around it. The first, a lean, muscular youth—Biggs was his name, I remembered—wearing dark green army fatigues, heavy boots, and a bright red headband that stood out sharply against his short brown hair, shifted from one foot to another and back again. His eyes immediately found the bloodstained sword I carried as I approached. "Wow! You're definitely from SOLDIER, alright! Hard to believe one of you guys joined up with a group like AVALANCHE."

"SOLDIER!?" It was the pretty young woman—Jessie—who spoke, her brown eyes glancing nervously at me. Not that I blamed her, really. "But aren't they the enemy? What's he doing here?"

Biggs shook his head. "He's not with them anymore, Jessie. He left Shinra and now he's with us."

_With you? Only until I get my money, kid. _I suppressed a snort and rested my hands on my sword hilt, the angled tip of Buster's wide blade poking against the concrete. Where the hell was Barret_? _Jessie watched me for a moment longer before pushing up the sleeves of the dark blue shirt she wore beneath her armored vest and turning back to the panel she'd been working on. Biggs didn't look much more trusting, though I hardly cared.

"I didn't catch your name…" he said. Would he not shut up?

"Cloud," I replied, hoping that would suffice.

He raised an eyebrow. Sometimes I wonder why my mother had to have picked that name. It's so… I don't know… girly. I've never liked it all that much.

"Cloud, eh? I'm—"

"I don't care what your name is," I snapped. "Once this job's over, I'm outta here."

Biggs frowned, started to reply, then abruptly shut his mouth and swallowed whatever it was he he had been about to say as Barret finally rushed up the alley to the gate, his dark-skinned face a thundercloud. "The hell you all think you're doin!?" he snarled. "I told you goddamn fools _never_ to move in a group!"

On lookout duty and wearing a large red bandana over his tousled black hair, Wedge flinched at the reprimand while Biggs just swallowed and shuffled his feet even more nervously than before. Jessie continued working on the gate panel, but her face did redden a bit. _What a bunch of a__mateurs._ Were they really so inept? I sighed, then remembered that this was their first real mission. So they were just inexperienced. That didn't make me feel much better, though. But I had to put up with it if I wanted my money.

Scowling, Barret went on. "Our target's Mako Reactor 1. Meet on the bridge in front of it."

A flurry of sparks erupted within the panel Jessie was working on, and the towering metal gate slid open with a low mechanical hum. She, Biggs, and Wedge all raced through it into the gloomy shadows of the reactor compound, but Barret paused and looked at me over his broad shoulder. Brown eyes filled with an almost feverish intensity glared at me with an expression not unlike that of the two troopers I had fought earlier. "Ex-SOLDIER, huh? I don't trust ya!"

As if for emphasis, he hefted that massive gatling gun fused to his right arm where his hand should have been. A thick sleeve encased his forearm up to just past his elbow, and the arms of his brown jacket had been torn off long ago. Without another word, he stomped off after the others, his boots thudding heavily on the concrete as he headed further into the complex.

High above me and to the left, the reactor itself loomed overhead like some bloated giant beneath a vast canopy of dark, billowing clouds that shrouded the city in a deep, endless gloom. Tightening my fingers around my sword hilt, I grimaced and moved on.

* * *

_Damn, but that's a _long_ way down._

I was standin' in front of the reactor entrance lookin' out over the side of the narrow, T-shaped bridge at the near two-hundred-foot drop down into the slums. Dunno why, but heights like that always make me shiver. That goddamn mako stench, like some badly made mixture of alcohol, bleach, an' ammonia, was eatin' away at my nose along with all the smog swirlin' everywhere.

At the far end of the bridge's short arm, Wedge was doin' his usual job as lookout, keepin' our escape route secure. The exit over there led out into Sector 8, an' from there we'd be hitchin' a ride on the train an' headin' back down to the slums in Sector 7. The reactor entrance stood open an' waitin' for us at the long end of the bridge.

I glanced back the way I'd come from while Biggs an' Jessie headed on inside, but Cloud still hadn't shown up yet. That goddamn kid was probably takin' his sweet time gettin' here, but I wasn't goin' no further 'til I knew he was still comin'. I didn't wanna be havin' any unexpected surprises, you know. Like a squad of Shinra soldiers or somethin'. I was jus' about to go look for him when he ran onto the bridge.

"Where the hell have ya been, Cloud?" I growled, fixin' him with a stony glare. "We ain't got no time for games!"

He shrugged. "I had a bit of a disagreement with some guard dogs. They lost."

I'd had to blast through some of them furry bastards myself on the way in, an' I didn't wanna know what kinda weird shit Shinra had done to 'em. Callin' 'em dogs was a kindness. Bloodthirsty death hounds was more like it, with sharp teeth like knife blades an' hooked claws instead of toenails.

"Well if you're done screwin' around out here, then let's get goin'!"

He swept arm toward the reactor. "After you."

Inside, Biggs an' Jessie were already workin' to disarm the lock on the first door, inputtin' them encrypted access codes we'd stolen earlier. Jess was a smart girl, always comin' up with some new gadget or other, an' she looked up to Tifa like the big sister she'd never had. It was Jessie who'd actually put together the bomb for our little operation. It wasn't much, but she'd promised it would get the job done.

Jessie had lived topside on the plate for most of her life, from what she'd told me. Her dad was some sorta corporate bigwig that she never got along with, and her mom had died in a train accident about a year ago. Jess had found herself alone down in the slums not long after that, but how she got there or why, she wouldn't say. There was a lot more to it than she was lettin' on, I was damn sure, but I didn't have a clue what it might be. Jessie had never once done us wrong, though, an' she had a good heart, so I wasn't gonna waste time worryin' about it. I knew she'd talk 'bout it when she was ready.

Biggs an' his little sister grew up in the slums an' played together in that spooky-ass Train Graveyard all the damn time. Caused their mom all kinds of grief with all the mischief they'd get into. Eventually she got sick and died from a bad flu that could've been treated if they'd had any money. Damned Shinra had bled 'em dry by then, so Biggs an' his sister hadn't had any choice but to fend for themselves. He'd been lookin' out for her ever since, an' he joined up with me to try an' help make things better for her an' everyone else down in the slums.

He an' Jessie were good kids an' decent fighters, but Shinra soldiers were much stronger an' faster than a few train guards. That was why I'd agreed to let that damn fool kid take the job. He claimed he could fight an' had been in SOLDIER, but I was gonna wait 'til I saw him in action to decide whether he was for real or not.

That he'd been in SOLDIER, I didn't doubt. No one else had them glowin' eyes. But what bothered me was that he'd said he had left. From what I knew of the Shinra, I didn't think they'd let one of their precious SOLDIER troops go that easily. They did some kinda weird shit to 'em with the mako that made 'em way more powerful than ordinary Shinra guards. Wasn't too sure I really wanted to know what that was, though. Goddamn unnatural, if ya ask me.

Finally, the kid strode through the entrance, that narrow face of his havin' all the expression of a brick wall. He wore one of them fancy-ass SOLDIER uniforms—dark baggy pants, a sleeveless black shirt, a wide belt, a pair of tough leather boots, and a studded shoulder guard. In his hands was the biggest goddamn sword I'd ever seen—had to have been almost as big as he was—with a couple of them weird-ass materia orbs in it, an' I had to wonder how he could possibly lift the goddamn thing what with how skinny he looked. _Probably all that SOLDIER training. Let's hope it pays off tonight._

"Yo! This your first time in a reactor?" I asked.

Cloud shook his spikey head. "I worked for Shinra, remember? Do the math."

_You __god__d__amn right I __remember__, an' I ain't about to forget it, either! __Friggin' smart-ass!_ Tifa had said I could trust him, but I wasn't too sure. Maybe he'd been her friend once, like she'd told me, but I couldn't see it myself. He was from Shinra, an' that was enough for me.

All of them Shinra bastards were friggin' killers an' thieves stealing the Planet's life for their own goddamn profit. There was no way in hell I would ever trust one of 'em. I scowled, not likin' what I had to do, but Tifa had made me promise to give Cloud a chance. And she don't take no for an answer.

"The Planet's full of mako energy," I told him. "People use it all the time, but they got no clue what it is. How 'bout you?"

He shrugged. I'd thought as much, so I went on. "Alright, listen up. Mako's the lifeblood of the planet, but Shinra keeps suckin' it dry with these damn machines."

"I'm not here for your speeches," Cloud snapped. "Let's just get on with it."

_D__on__'t he see what the hell's happenin'? _He was probably jus' thinkin' about his money. Well, he'd get it an' get out, friend of Tifa or no friend of Tifa. If he'd ever been that in the first place. I was doubtin' that now. A kid like Cloud wouldn't know what a friend was, much less have any. Tifa must've been wrong about him. She had to have been.

"Alright. But from now on, you stay where I can see ya!"

Cloud shrugged an' nodded but didn't say anythin'. It was probably the smartest thing I'd seen him do ever since we got here. If he decided to get all uppity again, I figured I'd smack him upside that blond spiky-haired head of his no matter what Tifa would say later. _Damn kid looks like he took groomin' lessons from a porcupine._

Beside me, the door slid open an' Biggs an' Jessie sped into the next room. Cloud followed on cat's feet, an' I brought up the rear, hopin' the others hadn't alerted any of the roboguards. We'd been lucky so far, but I knew it was only a matter of time.

Shinra's security 'bots had regular patrols that swept through each section of the reactor, an' the droids were programmed to take out any intruders they found. I didn't think we'd have much trouble with 'em, but if they caught us, they'd probably try an' sound an alert that would bring Shinra guards an' maybe SOLDIER troops as well.

As it turned out, though, the room was empty except for Biggs and Jessie, who were already busy unlockin' the next door. So far, the codes Jess had hacked off the Shinra mainframe were workin' out as planned, but the real test would come later on. If the alarms did go off, the doors would lock again an' the security passcodes would reset to try an' keep us from gettin' outta here.

Cloud took point as we moved through the second door, Jessie was in the middle, an' I came up last again. Biggs stayed behind to keep the doors open for our escape. With a little rewirin' of the lock panels, he'd be able to deactivate them automatic security measures that the alarms would set off. I hoped that it wouldn't come to that, but I doubted we'd be able to get ourselves outta here without any trouble. Shinra might've been ruthless, but they weren't stupid.

The next room was deserted too, but a small side passage led off to the right. Not takin' any chances, I stopped an' motioned for the others to hold up for a moment while I went an' checked it out. It led over to a small control room, not much more than a closet, really.

No guards or mechs were there, so I did a quick look around to see if there was anythin' we could use. On a shelf on the back wall, I found an emergency medkit with a pouch of phoenix down inside. The little feathers worked kinda like smellin' salts, so if someone got their damn fool selves knocked out while we was in here, the phoenix down would wake 'em right back up.

Once I rejoined Cloud an' Jessie, we went into the elevator over on the far wall. The reactor core was at least several levels below us at the bottom of this damn furnace. That's where the liquid mako was drawn up into the system an' converted into the electricity that powered both the upper city an' all the slums sprawled out underneath it. There were eight reactors in all in Midgar, an' if I'd had my way back then, I'd have torched every single one of 'em.

* * *

The soft, steady humming of the elevator was the only sound as we descended deeper inside the reactor complex. Barret scowled at me but said nothing. I was getting tired of his preaching, but I figured I'd have to suffer through it a little longer at least until this mission was over. To my right, Jessie stood quietly over in one corner, staring intently above the doors at the level indicator.

Barret looked at his gatling gun, then glanced back up at me. That frown was still there, almost as if it was a permanent fixture within that bearded, craggy face of his. Irritation was probably his normal state of mind. He growled as he started talking, that rough, low baritone of his really getting on my nerves. "The reactors are slowly drainin' away the planet's life, little by little. An' someday, that'll be that."

_So? I should care? _I shrugged. "Not my problem."

"Don't ya get it, Cloud? The planet's gonna die!" Barret exploded as he threw his huge arms up in the air. "Them Shinra bastards are killin' it! Don't that matter to ya at all?"

"Stow it, Barret. All that matters to me is finishing this job before security gets here."

Barret snarled, clenched his good hand into a tight fist, and turned around, glaring darkly at me over his shoulder and shaking with barely restrained rage. He started to say something else, probably to spew out more of his self-righteous save-the-planet crap, but then shut it again, muttering curses to himself under his breath instead.

A few moments later, the elevator doors slid open, and we stepped out into a vast chamber divided into several levels. We stood on a large square platform bordered by high stone walls rising behind and to the left of us, and to the right and in front by a metal railing that ran along the two open sides which dropped away into the lower part of the huge chamber. From behind the low dome of the overseer's office roughly a dozen or so yards away, four Grunt-class roboguards shambled toward us like mechanical zombies, their claws sparking with electricity.

"_Unauthorized personnel detected. Surrender or be met with lethal force. Resistance is futile."_

"Like hell it is!" Barret yelled as he opened up with his gatling gun, bullets punching through the air like a madman's typewriter.

One of the Grunts toppled drunkenly and collapsed, riddled with dozens of smoking black holes, as I rushed toward the remaining three. Fortunately they hadn't sounded the alarm yet, but I knew it was only a matter of time. As long as the Grunts were still functional, that was. I intended to see that they weren't.

I quickly dove to the side to avoid the sudden hail of blue energy bolts the roboguards spewed my way, and with a deft spin I swiftly cut the legs out from under one of the them, Buster's foot-wide blade easily slicing right through the shoddy metal plating that encased the limbs. Seemed like Shinra was too cheap to even build proper security droids, not that that was any real surprise to me.

A small black disc about the size of a hockey puck suddenly rolled into view, speeding right toward the other two roboguards. The droids hadn't yet recognized the threat, but I sure as hell did. I leaped over the railing onto the stairs below and ducked just as Jessie's explosive turned the part of the mid-level platform where the Grunts were standing into a blazing inferno, totally incinerating them in a deafening thunderclap of fire, smoke, and sound.

The air stank of scorched metal and wiring as I made my way back up to the platform to rejoin Barret and Jessie. A few scattered pieces of blackened metal, some still smoldering from the blast, were all that was left of the droids. A haze of smoke drifted through the air, making my lungs itch, but somehow I resisted the urge to cough.

"That all you got, Shinra?" Barret sneered, jabbing his gun-arm in the direction of the destroyed roboguards. "Gonna hafta do a helluva lot better than that to take _me_ down!"

Jessie grinned at me as she headed across the platform. "How'd you like my little toy, Cloud? I've got a few others if we run into any more trouble down here."

"Not bad," I nodded. "Let's keep moving."

Without waiting for the others to follow, I moved past the elevator and started down the metal staircase, but it wasn't all that long before I heard Barret's heavy footfalls on the stairs behind me along with Jessie's lighter ones. Barret didn't seem to have a clue what stealth was. Myself, I crept down the stairs as quietly as I could, not wanting to encounter another patrol, but I kept Buster ready in my hands nevertheless as we continued our descent.

A massive pipe about twice as big around as Barret ran parallel to the stairs as we headed further down, and from time to time I slid my eyes over in that direction to make sure nothing was hiding behind it. Halfway down, the stairs bent sharply to the right, following the corner of the platform above us, while the pipe delved beneath the floor of the chamber and continued much further down to connect with the mako processing vats deeper in the facility.

Finally reaching the bottom of the stairs after numerous twists and turns on the way down, we went through an open doorway ahead of us and into a smaller chamber filled with a twisting labyrinth of pipes and girders. A narrow ledge no more than a few feet wide ran out from the doorway along the left-hand wall, and I made my way carefully along it as best I could, Barret and Jessie following close behind me. The mako vats churned endlessly a few hundred feet beneath us, the acrid stench wrinkling my nose even from up here. I hate that smell. My nose curls up just thinking about it.

A small black shape suddenly darted into view from just below us, scattering my thoughts like leaves in the wind and hovering in midair for a moment before launching itself at Jessie like a missile. I lashed out with Buster one-handed, using the other one to keep myself steady on the ledge, but the flying sentry slid in beneath the arc of my swing and rammed itself into Jessie's midsection. She managed to hurl it away but nearly lost her balance in the process. I shot my arm out in front of her and pushed her back up against the wall as Barret opened fire and blew the little droid apart.

But then there were a lot more. Looking like a swarm of little black squids with bulbous red heads, five of the overgrown mechanical gnats flew out from behind pipes or beneath girders and closed in around us. By themselves, they weren't much of a threat, but in groups they could be trouble, as they were now.

"Damn!" Barret growled. "How many of these things are there?"

I grimaced. "Too many. But I've got an idea."

"You better make it quick, SOLDIER boy, 'cause we ain't got much time!" Barret punctuated that statement with a second blast of gunfire, scrapping another of the flying droids.

Ignoring him for the moment, I gripped Buster in both hands and concentrated only on the Lightning materia embedded inside the base of the blade. The green orb pulsed with light as I drew out its magical energy and focused it upon the Mono Drive sentries that continued to dive at us like a flock of frenzied birds. One of them struck the wall less than a foot from my head, but I barely even noticed. You have to block out everything, and I mean _everything,_ when you use materia like this, otherwise you could potentially lose the spell if something breaks your concentration.

I slid my sword over my shoulder and threw both arms out in front of me as the familiar heat raced through my blood like a firestorm and the magic flowed through me. A bright blue fork of electricity shot out from my hands and ripped through each of those pesky Mono Drives in a series of small explosions that split across the air one after another and left it stinking as much of ozone and burnt metal as it did of mako. Not much of an improvement, if you ask me.

"Cool!" Jessie chirped. "I've heard about materia, but I never saw it in action before. Until now, anyway."

I shrugged. "It wasn't much."

We reached the end of the ledge and climbed down a nearby pipe onto which a metal ladder had been attached. The pipe stretched down at an angle to a long set of thick iron girders that stretched across the width of the chamber from wall to wall, and another ladder descended out of sight from a small square platform resting on top of a thick pipe that curved away and back into the wall several feet beneath the ledge. I was just heading over to the second ladder when I realized that Jessie had stopped and taken up a position at the far end of the girder instead of following after me.

I frowned. "You're not coming?"

"Sorry, Cloud, it's just that that bugger took more out of me than I thought. I'll be alright, but I don't want to slow you down."

"No problem," I told her. "Think you can spare one of those bombs of yours? I have a feeling they might come in handy. Never know what we might run into down there."

She smiled as she handed me one of her black discs. "Sure! Glad I could help!"

"You holler at us if you hear anythin' comin' our way, Jess," Barret added. "Watch our backs."

"Right! Now get on down there and plant the bomb. I'll be waiting here for you guys."

Barret and I left her at the end of the girder and climbed down the ladder, heading deeper into the chamber and making our way through more pipes and ladders until we finally got as far down as we could go. I moved over to the railing of the wide catwalk, peering over the side at the bright emerald sea of liquid mako swirling below. Something about these reactors always bothered me, feelings of disquiet and unease that wouldn't leave no matter how hard I tried to ignore them. Maybe it was the oppressive gloom hanging all over the place, or the heaviness of the air, like the whole structure was frowning down at me. I didn't know, but I'd be glad when we were finally out of here.

We headed across the long catwalk over to the reactor core, a huge mechanism made up of pipes, dials, several reinforced steel beams, and who knew what else. The thing dominated the entire wall and seemed to rise up from the mako itself. The control panel was a complex array of keypads and buttons, and above it was a large metal wheel, probably for controlling the pressure levels in the reactor. Far above us, the high ceiling rose into a nest of murky shadows.

"When we blow this place up," Barret growled, "there ain't gonna be nothin' left. You set the bomb, Cloud."

He tossed me what was undoubtedly another of Jessie's homemade explosives, only this one was different. It was a large block of wires and plastique fitted with a digital timer on the front and a one-way arming switch. That meant that once it was activated, there was no turning it off or resetting it.

I frowned. "Isn't this your job?"

"Jus' do it! I'm gonna watch to make sure you don't pull nothin'."

"Fine, have it your way," I sighed.

Barret was grumbling under his breath again, but I put him out of my mind and turned back to the control panel. It wouldn't be too hard to plant the bomb, it was doing it without setting off the core's internal security alarms that was the trick.

I'd have to either find a way to disable the scanners—which would take longer than I would have liked, since I wasn't too familiar with the system—or I could try bypass them entirely, which was riskier but also easier and had a much better chance of success. I found myself wishing Jessie had come with us. She would surely have known the best way to go about this task, but since she wasn't here now, it fell to me to get the job done. Lucky me.

I had just started to slide my fingers across the controls when pain suddenly exploded inside my head as though someone had clamped it inside a vise and started to squeeze. At the time, I honestly thought my skull was going to crack right open like an egg. I grabbed my temples, dropping the bomb in process, but I hardly cared. All I was aware of in that moment was pain, far worse than anything I had felt before, raging inside my head like a beast.

— _Wake up! This is more than just a reactor. —_

I heard the voice clearly in my mind, but whether it was real or just imagined, I didn't know. When it spoke, the pain vanished as strangely and abruptly as it had appeared. I blinked, trying to remember where I was and what the hell I was doing. My brain seemed to have just gone to sleep. I shook my head to try and clear out some of the cobwebs still lingering inside my mind, but it was still foggy, like early morning mist hovering over the ground.

_What the hell just happened?_

"You okay, Cloud?" barked a gruff voice that I dimly recognized as Barret's. "Don't you start freakin' out on me, you hear?"

It was enough to jolt me back to my senses, which had likely been his intention all along. Barret stood like an overgrown bulldog, glaring at me impatiently. Not that it mattered much since he'd been doing that basically all night anyway, but at least it was a reminder that I was back in the real world again.

I nodded. "Yeah, sorry."

"Jus' get on with it!" Barret griped. "Goddamn weird-ass kid…"

Ignoring him, I knelt to retrieve the bomb from where I'd dropped it earlier, and I had just picked it back up when I noticed a tiny sparkle out of the corner of my eye. At first I thought I was imagining things, but then I noticed the small materia orb that had rolled into the corner underneath the control panel. I reached in there and grabbed it, taking a moment to look it over. Like most materia, it was about the size of a tennis ball and as smooth and as shiny as polished glass. It glowed with the bright green aura of magic, but there wasn't time to figure out what kind. I slipped the materia into my pocket and turned my attention to the reactor controls once again.

It wasn't all that hard to get around the core's internal scanners, but sooner or later they'd find the bomb. Hopefully we'd be on our way out of here by then, but I couldn't be sure.

Once I had done as much with the core's controls as I could, I took the bomb, stuck it onto the underside of the panel, and powered it up. After just a moment's thought, I set the timer for 20:00 and flipped the arming switch. No turning back now.

As the countdown started, I backed away from the core. "Alright, let's get the hell out of here!"

We had taken no more than a few steps, though, when the security alarms suddenly shrieked to life. _Damn! How __the hell did__ they find it so fast? _I drew Buster and started running again, remembering the bomb, but froze in midstep when a loud rumbling suddenly drowned out the wailing alarm klaxons as something huge and metallic scuttled down the wall from the ceiling at the opposite end of the catwalk and headed straight toward us.

"Heads up!" Barret yelled. "Here it comes!"

The thing looked, as best I can remember, like a huge red scorpion. It moved about on six legs and sported a pair of claw-like arm cannons as well as a nasty-looking tail, and it also had a pair of green eyes that served as targeting scanners. A swirl of bluish-green energy swept over me as the creature locked on, and a split second later, the arm cannons spat out a stream of bullets in my direction. I dove aside and just barely managed to avoid getting shot.

I could hear Barret responding with a volley of his own, and while he had the creature distracted, I rushed in and sliced at its midsection. Sparks crackled and flew, but I hadn't hit anything vulnerable yet. This junk heap was tougher than I'd thought. No doubt a product of Shinra's infamous Weapons Development Division, the guard scorpion was the big bully of this place and was going to take more than few hits to take down before this was all over.

Dodging another stream of gunfire from the thing's arm cannons, I rolled away and brought the Lightning materia to bear upon it. Since the scorpion was basically just a big machine, I figured that shocking it might really do some damage. I took a deep breath and strove to ignore all the commotion going on around me just long enough to draw upon the magic. Sound faded away, and there was, for a moment, nothing in my mind but silence.

Thrusting both of my arms out in front of me, I lashed out with a crackling bolt of electricity.

There was something like an explosion in my ears, or at least that's what it sounded like—it was probably the lightning, now that I think about it—and suddenly I was back in the world again. A fork of bright blue electricity shot through the scorpion, blowing panels off the sides and sending puffs of black smoke floating up into the air. That walking pile of scrap metal didn't go down, though. Not yet, anyway.

Barret was still shooting, leaving a trail of smoking holes along the scorpion's dark red plating, but he didn't seem to have had much luck hitting anything vital yet, either. I readied Buster and charged in again, this time cutting low. A moment later, one of the thing's legs clattered to the ground, neatly severed. I knew I wouldn't have to cut all of them, just enough to push it off balance.

Something sharp suddenly lashed out at me, and I had to jump to the side to get away from it. Even so, I felt a sharp sting as it grazed my shoulder. I'd forgotten all about that damn tail, and apparently so had Barret. He backpedaled away from it and managed to avoid getting hit, firing off a few rounds as he got out of range. The tail didn't follow us, though, but hovered over the scorpion's body instead.

I went for another leg, on the same side as the first one I'd cut, and in the background Barret was spitting bullets again. This time, I leaped up and brought Buster straight down in an overhead chop directly over the joint. The scorpion lurched to the right, but somehow it still held. I was just about to start working on a third leg when a powerful energy beam suddenly shot out from the tip of the thing's tail and swept across the width of the catwalk, knocking both of us off our feet and the wind from our bodies.

I jumped up, my body aching from being hurled onto the floor like an angry child's toy. "Watch it, Barret! Don't attack it while the tail's up! It'll counterattack with its laser if you do!"

"_Now_ you tell me!" he spat as he stood. "Jus' shut up and bust the goddamn thing, will ya?"

I slid in low and sliced off that third leg this time, rolling away just as the scorpion collapsed. The arm cannons fired my way again, and I had to dive to the right to get out of the way. But as I did so, something slipped out of my pocket and fell to the floor.

I scooped it back up and saw that it was the bomb Jessie had given to me earlier. The beginnings of an idea started forming in my mind as I turned the little black disc over and over in my hand.

A glance in Barret's direction told me that he was taking advantage of the guard scorpion's sudden vulnerability. Instead of bullets, what he fired out of his gun-arm now was a single fiery blast that smashed into the huge machine and blew one of its arm cannons right off. The other twitched feebly and tried to shoot, but it couldn't lock onto either of us. Barret's big fireball must have knocked it out of alignment. Either way, it was time to finish this.

"Barret!" I called, holding up the disc. "Time to leave!"

He nodded, pausing to fish something out of the scorpion's severed cannon, then ran like mad toward the far end of the catwalk, where the ladder would take us back up to the exit. Depressing the arming switch on the bomb, I tossed the flattened black disc into the thing's smoking chassis and dove back toward the reactor core just in time to avoid the deafening explosion that ripped across the catwalk.

Thunder flooded my ears and smoke stung at my eyes, but when I looked up again, there was nothing left except for a smoldering husk of scorched metal and wiring that still sparked here and there. Small fires burned amdist the rubble, and when I glanced over the railing, I could see a few scattered bits of debris floating in the liquid mako like the last remnants of a shipwreck.

"Yo, Cloud!" Barret's voice jerked me out of my thoughts. "Better get that skinny ass of yours movin', you hear? This place is gonna blow any second now!"

My eyes widened as I glanced at the core and the bomb I'd attached to it. The digital timer, which had read 20:00 just before our battle with the scorpion, now read less than 10:00. _Shit! Only ten minutes? _That left us barely enough time to get the hell out of here before the whole place went up. I considered trying to reset the timer but quickly abandoned the idea, remembering it was a one-way ticket.

I rushed back across the catwalk and followed Barret up the ladder into the maze of pipes and girders above us. They twisted and turned about each other like a demented puzzle, and I had to wonder what the Shinra engineers had been thinking when they'd built this place. Barret and I made our way carefully through the maze as best we could until, after climbing up another ladder, we returned to the thick set of girders where we had left Jessie.

She smiled and waved as soon as she saw us. "Hey, guys! Great job down there!"

"We ain't outta here yet!" Barret said, and for once I actually agreed with him.

We were just heading toward the last pipe and the ladder attached to it when a deep rumble suddenly shook the entire reactor complex. If that was the bomb just starting to go off, then there was even less time left than I had thought.

I grabbed onto the side of the ladder to steady myself, and Barret managed to stay on his feet as well. Jessie wasn't quite so lucky, though. She let out a startled shriek and tumbled forward across the girder, her arms spread out ahead of her.

"Jess, you alright?" Barret called out.

She seemed to be, more or less. But when she tried to stand up and move, she only managed a weak half-step before she winced and fell to her knees. At first I wasn't sure what was wrong with her, but when she started frantically tugging and pulling at her right foot, I saw the truth of her situation clearly enough.

"Damn!" she muttered. "My leg's stuck! It hurts like hell!"

Jessie's right foot and lower leg had gotten wedged right into one of the diamond-shaped gaps in the girder almost up to her knee when she had fallen, and in the process, her right ankle had bent itself almost out of shape. It was almost certainly sprained, and she was lucky she hadn't broken it. She'd have to have Tifa look at it once we got out of here and back down to the slums, though.

I knelt down in front of Jessie and gently grasped her stuck leg just below the knee. I didn't move it right away, wanting to get a better look first at how she'd gotten it wedged into that odd hole. It seemed like her leg and foot had just slipped right through it when she had fallen, and the impact must have slammed her ankle against the side of one of the crossbars as it went through and twisted it. That had to have been what was holding her now and keeping her stuck.

"Hold still," I glanced at Jessie and handed her one of the potions I had found on the guards earlier. "Drink this, it'll help with the pain. I'll get you out."

She nodded and did as I'd said, though I could feel her tensing up. I blocked out the blaring alarm klaxons and the rumbling deep within the reactor and focused only on what I had to do. Adjusting my grip so that one hand remained under Jessie's knee while the other grasped her swollen ankle, I pulled and turned her leg a little at a time, adjusting its position as I went so that it would clear the gap. It seemed like it took hours, but really it was only a minute or so before I finally got her foot out of the hole and helped her stand up again.

The reactor shook as another ominous rumble passed through it, and I had to catch Jessie before she fell over again. I barely managed to keep my own footing as it was. This whole place was getting ready to fall apart around our ears, and a quick glance down at the depths didn't ease my mind any. I didn't want to think about how much time we had left. All I knew was that it was running out, and fast.

Barret motioned to us with his gun-arm. "Alright, move it, people! Unless you'd rather fry!"

None of us did, so we hurried up the ladder and across the narrow ledge toward the open doorway, Jessie with one arm wrapped around my shoulder and one of mine around her waist as I helped her along as quickly as I could. None of those flying droids attacked us this time. I doubt we could have stopped to fight them anyway, but fortunately we never had to find out.

We hurried through the doorway and practically flew up that long staircase toward the main platform, Barret in the lead and myself at the rear with Jessie now limping between us but still managing to keep up. She was tough, I had to give her that. Potions can take the edge off the pain and provide some healing, but even they have limits.

We were just turning the last corner near the top of the stairs when a sudden tremor shook the whole chamber and slammed us against the railing. The bomb had just gone off, and the explosion began blasting up through the floor fifty feet below us in huge tongues of flame. There was a groan of metal and a snap as the railing behind Jessie suddenly broke apart as she collided with it, sending her plummeting toward the fiery hellscape below us.

"_Cloud!"_ she screamed, her eyes wide with terror. _"Help!"_

I seized her wrist with both hands just before she fell out of reach. "I've got you! Just hang on!"

Beneath her, the floor was falling away in large chunks and taking everything else with it as the fire burst through and surged up the walls as though it was a living thing. The acrid stench of burning mako hung in the air, and the roar of the inferno filled my ears. Terror filled Jessie's face as she hung precariously over the firestorm, the orange glow of the blaze reflected in her soft brown eyes. She was starting to slip away, but I wasn't about to let go.

I pulled as hard as I could, and when she was close enough, Barret reached down and took her other hand, and together we helped her get back up onto the stairs. Then we hurried the rest of the way up to the platform and rushed into the elevator. I hit the button for the top level, and the lift started its ascent. It wouldn't be long before we'd be racing the flames out of here, and I could only hope that we'd come out on top in that contest. Second place wasn't going to cut it.

The level indicator beeped just a few moments later as we reached the first level. As soon as the doors opened, we hurried out. Biggs was still there waiting for us, and I doubted he'd moved so much as a single inch since we'd left. There was no need for any words, though, he knew just as well as we did what was happening. The four of us sped through the first level of the reactor, Biggs and Jessie quickly decoding the door locks one after another as we went.

An angry orange glow suddenly erupted not all that far behind us, and I glanced back to see billowing walls of flame hungrily consuming everything in sight. Doors and walls just vanished, tables and control panels were simply vaporized in an instant. The roaring of the inferno drowned out almost everything else except for the ear-popping bang of exploding metal and glass all around us. The fire was catching up to us even faster than I had anticipated.

Then the reactor's main entrance was in front of me, and I charged through, the others behind or beside me. I ran across the long arm of the bridge, taking Jessie's hand in mine and pulling her back to her feet when her ankle gave out on her. We made a hard right and rushed over to where Wedge was waiting for us. For once, I was actually glad to see his pudgy face as he beckoned us through the open gate leading out of the complex. With Barret taking the lead, the five of us ran outside and dove into the gloom of a darkened tunnel as the reactor exploded into a blazing fireball behind us.


	3. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - TWO

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**TWO**

"That should keep the planet going… at least a little longer."

That was Biggs, leanin' back against the wall in this little tunnel we was in. Mako Reactor 1 was dust, an' we'd made it outta the compound and into this cramped underground cubbyhole filled up with a buncha frayed wires an' broken slabs of concrete. A few pipes ran all along the length of the tunnel on the ceilin' an' the walls, drippin' mako and who knew what else, and the only light came from the sparks jumpin' outta some of the wires an' the flashlight Wedge was holdin'.

He nodded. "Yeah…"

Although our mission tonight had been a success, I felt uneasy jus' the same. Had to be this way, right? Shinra wasn't leavin' us any choice. At least that's what I kept tellin' myself back then. Didn't wanna think about what it might cost us, you know? I hate second-guessin' myself, an' at the time I didn't have no doubts about what we was doin' an' why. Not yet, anyway. That would come later.

Anyway, Jessie was workin' on another bomb to blast open the end of the tunnel so we could get outta here. We damn near lost her today, an' we would've too, if it hadn't been for Cloud. I'm sure that she knew it jus' as well as I did. I still didn't trust the kid, but maybe there was a bit more to him than I'd originally thought. He stood nearby, his hands folded across his chest an' that big-ass sword hangin' down his back as we waited for Jess to finish up.

Jus' seconds later, she stood up an' brushed herself off. "Done. Now stand back!"

We all backed away an' took cover as the far end of the tunnel blew outward in a huge blast of fire an' smoke. When it was clear, we all ran outside, Jessie still limpin' a little but doin' better than she was before. Them potions are really good for keepin' you on your feet an' patchin' up some hurts like what she'd got. Looked like the one Cloud had given her back in the reactor was finally startin' to kick in. She'd still hafta go easy on that leg for a while, though.

Wedge came last, pattin' at his backside where it was burnin' a little 'til them flames finally went out. He an' his family had come to Midgar from a small town near Kalm when he was jus' about eight or so, lured there no doubt by Shinra's fake promises of a better life. His dad an' his two older brothers had worked as maintenance techs in Mako Reactor 3, an' Wedge had joined 'em when he'd gotten old enough. The pay was a joke, even with the four of 'em workin' together, and they was barely able onto their home in the upper city.

When a bunch of them Shinra security 'bots in the reactor went all haywire a few years back an' killed a bunch of workers, Wedge's dad an' two older brothers had been among those that was lost. He'd been sick at home at the time, an' Shinra didn't give him or the rest of his family any sorta compensation or apology.

With only Wedge able to work, he an' his mom an' younger brother hadn't been able keep their home an' had wound up on the street jus' a few weeks later. Bein' the oldest boy, Wedge had taken what was left of his family down to the slums to find a new life down there, an' that was where I met him soon after. He was a quiet kid, but he hated Shinra for what they'd done, so he was eager to sign on with us.

Twisted bits of metal an' debris littered the small courtyard we was in, an' a set of stairs on our right led up to the street while the entryway of the tunnel still burned.

A narrow ladder on the far side also ran up to the street, an' on the wall right next to the stairs was that goddamn Shinra logo, a dark red diamond on an even darker red square with the name in the middle an' both of 'em outlined in white. Jus' the sight of that goddamn thing was enough to make my blood boil.

Everyone gathered around me, an' I looked at each of 'em in turn. They was a fine team, an' they'd done some good work today. Even that smart-ass kid from SOLDIER, I had to admit.

"Alright, let's head out. Rendezvous at Sector 8 Station. Split up an' get on the train."

The others nodded and sped off in different directions. Well, most of 'em, anyway. Cloud never even budged. He fixed those weird glowin' blue eyes on me an' frowned. "Hey, wait a minute!"

I jus' brushed him aside an' headed up the stairs. "If it's about yer money, save it 'til we get back!"

* * *

After watching Barret leave, I jogged up the stairs and into an alley. The train station wasn't too far away, just a few streets over, but I didn't want to attract any unwanted attention. Shinra soldiers would surely be converging on the wreckage of the reactor by now, and they would find anyone running away from it suspicious, so I made myself walk slowly instead. The alley soon opened up onto a wide avenue where crowds of people were bustling about in a panic and the bright orange glow from the smoldering ruins of the reactor could easily be seen. On my right, a theater stood with a large banner advertising that old play, LOVELESS, and near it and the Goblin's Bar lay several wrecked cars that had been hurled onto the sidewalk like child's toys in the explosion.

I was about to keep going when one of the passersby ran into a girl in an ankle-length pink dress and a short-sleeved red jacket, knocking her off her feet and causing her to drop the basket of flowers she'd been carrying. The stranger ran off without a word while the girl sighed and picked up her basket. Without knowing exactly why, I went over to her, took her by the hand, and helped her up. Her rich brown hair was tied with a pair of bright pink ribbons and fastened into a long, thick braid that hung down almost to her knees, and sturdy leather boots covered her feet. She looked at me with eyes like emeralds and smiled.

"Thanks," she said. "What happened here?"

I could have told her, I suppose, but I didn't want to put her in any danger. The last thing she needed was to have Shinra soldiers after her just because she'd happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I didn't want to upset her, either. And there was something vaguely familiar about her, although back then, I couldn't have said what it was. But the oddest sense of déjà vu nearly overwhelmed me for no reason I could even begin to understand. I knew her, somehow, but I had never seen her before today, I was sure of it. Her eyes widened for a moment at the sight of the sword strapped to my back, but then she blinked and looked away so quickly I wondered if I hadn't just imagined it.

"It's nothing," I told her. Then I remembered her basket. "You don't usually see flowers here…"

"Oh, these?" her face lit right up, which was exactly what I'd been hoping for. From her earnest smile, I figured she didn't get many sales. "Do you like them? They're only a gil! Would you like to buy one?"

I handed her a coin. "Sure, I'll take one."

She took the gil, slipped it into her own pocket, and then plucked a yellow flower from out of the old wicker basket hanging from her arm. She held it out to me and smiled again. "Here, this is for you!"

I tucked the flower into my belt. "Thanks. See you around."

"You too. Maybe we'll run into each other again!"

"Anything's possible," I replied, walking away. But I didn't think we would. Midgar was an absolutely huge city, much too big for my liking, and I wasn't planning on being in it that much longer. I preferred open skies under the countryside. Still, I found that I wouldn't have minded seeing that girl again before I left this hellhole for good. She seemed so different from everything and everyone else around her, so bright and full of life. But it had just been a chance encounter, that was all. I didn't think it would happen again.

As it turned out later, I couldn't have been more wrong.

Crossing over to the next street and underneath a wide arch with a clock mounted at its summit, I hurried on through an enclosed square where a splashing fountain stood nearby. The ground was laid out in a black and white checkered pattern, and at the far end stood a sparking electrical generator beneath a set of towering billboards. On the lowest one was scrawled a message in badly written graffiti. I stopped for just a moment to take a look.

_Don't be fooled by Shinra!  
Mako energy won't last forever!  
Mako is the lifeblood of the planet!  
And someday it'll be gone!  
Protectors of the planet: AVALANCHE_

I wondered for a moment which of Barret's friends had written this little missive, then I decided it didn't matter. I doubted they would have that much of an impact, anyway. What could one small group with less than half a dozen people possibly hope to do against Shinra's powerful army and their virtually endless wealth? Barret was deluding himself if he thought he could bring them down. I couldn't understand why Tifa went along with it. What did she see in them? I knew she hated Shinra, but I didn't think it was a fight they could win.

Heading onward, I left the square and found myself in yet another alley. An intersection wasn't too far ahead, a cobbled street going off in either direction to my left and my right while the alley itself continued straight onward. On either side, a pair of tall apartment buildings rose up into the gloom, lights shining in the windows. I was heading toward the street when I heard boots on the concrete behind me. I turned and saw a pair of Shinra troopers, rifles at the ready.

"Hey, you there!" one of them shouted. "Halt!"

_What a pain. I __don'__t have time for this!_

I spun back around and sped into the intersection, dodging bullets as they opened fire. Then, more troopers came at me from my right, so I made a left and started down the cobbled street only to run into even more soldiers. I reached over my shoulder and grabbed Buster's hilt as they closed in around me in a circle. Looked like it was gonna turn into a fight after all.

But then a very welcome sound reached my ears, and I grinned as I let go of my sword and backed up a few steps. The section of the street I was standing on overlooked a set of railroad tracks that ran out of a tunnel just beneath my feet. As the roar of the oncoming train's engine grew louder and the soldiers drew closer, I turned around and smirked at them over my shoulder. "Sorry, but I don't have time to mess around with you guys."

"Enough backtalk! Grab him!"

But before they could even make a move, I jumped just as the train shot out of the tunnel exit like a bullet fired from a gun. I landed in a crouch on the train's roof and shot a jaunty little wave at the soldiers as I quickly rode away from them. They started shooting at me again, but by then, I was already out of range. As the train sped onward, billowing plumes of black engine smoke swept over me. I coughed, put an arm in front of my face, and set out to find a way inside.

* * *

We was all together in the train, the four of us sittin' around in one of them cargo cars that had wooden crates full of different stuff waitin' to be delivered to different places all 'round the city. The passenger cars was ahead of us, but I wasn't ready to go jus' yet. Cloud was still missin' and as much as I didn't like it, I'd decided to give him a little more time to get his scrawny ass in here before we moved on. What the goddamn hell was keepin' him, anyway?

Wedge was sittin' nearby with his back to one of them crates while Biggs stood with his arms folded in front of him next to the side door used for movin' cargo in an' outta the train. Jess was off by herself over in the back of the train car leanin' against the wall and tryin' not to put too much weight on her bad ankle.

"Looks like Cloud didn't make it," Wedge said.

Biggs looked up. "Think he was caught?"

I snorted. "No way! He ain't lettin' nothin' get between him an' his goddamn money!"

"Cloud..." Jessie sighed an' looked down.

Damn. She was probably thinkin' about him, an' I s'pose I couldn't blame her. He'd saved her life, after all. I guess I shouldn't have gone an' dissed him like that. I was jus' mad he was so late, an' when I'm pissed like that I tend to say shit I don't mean. Don't make it right, of course. I drummed the fingers of my good hand on the top of a nearby crate an' tried to find somethin' to say to her to apologize, but Biggs cut in again before I could get a word out.

"You think he'll keep fighting for us?"

"How the hell would I know?" I scowled at him even though I was wonderin' the same thing myself. "Do I look like a mind reader to you? If y'all weren't such screw-ups, I wouldn't need that jackass!"

They all flinched this time, an' I jus' wanted to smack myself. It was true they didn't have a whole lot of experience, but they tried hard jus' the same. I guess I shouldn't have been quite so rough on 'em. They put themselves in danger for the cause, after all, and they knew what was at stake. They was good kids, and what was happenin' wasn't their fault. I was jus' about to say somethin' to 'em along those lines when suddenly there was a bang on the side door. And then another.

I went over to stand opposite Biggs an' grabbed onto the door with my good hand while he drew one of his guns an' the others backed up. He nodded, an' I threw open the door an' whipped up my gun-arm just as a dark-clad figure flew through the openin' with a quick somersault and landed inside. Soon as I saw that big-ass sword, I dropped my arm right away as Biggs relaxed an' the others crowded in around us to get a look at the newcomer.

"Cloud!" they all cheered.

He shrugged an' ran a hand through that spiky blond hair of his. "I guess I'm a little late."

"You damn right you're late!" I fumed. "Come waltzin' right in here makin' a big scene!"

"It's nothing special. Just what I always do."

Why'd he have to be so damn flippant? An' what fool reason did he have for bein' so goddamn late? He was really pissin' me off now, and I didn't care what the hell the others thought. I'd been waitin' to tell him off for a while now, an' I didn't give a shit if Tifa gave me any flack for it later. "You goddamn jerk! Havin' everyone worried like that. You don't give a damn 'bout no one but yourself!"

He raised an eyebrow. "You were worried about me?"

"WHAT? That's comin' outta your share, hotshot!" I glanced at the others. "C'mon, people! We're movin' out! Follow me!"

With that, I stormed off into the next car, grumblin' all the while.

* * *

After Barret left, I looked at the others. They were all staring at me, relief etched into their faces. What had they been so worried about? I'd been in SOLDIER, after all. I could take care of myself. I'd gotten away from the guards and onto the train, hadn't I? Wedge tugged on his light yellow shirt and grinned before he turned and followed Barret into the next car. "Hey, Cloud! You were great back there!"

"Cloud!" Biggs laughed, holstering his gun and slapping me on the back. "We'll do even better next time!"

He left as well, and then I was alone with Jessie. She closed the side door, muffling the rumbling of the train and the wind blowing outside, then turned back to me, smiling shyly. But then her eyes widened, and she barely stifled a laugh as she looked at me. What was so funny? Had I missed something here? Jessie must have seen my confusion, though, because she answered my unspoken question just a moment later. "Oh, Cloud! Your face… it's all dirty!"

I'd forgotten about all the soot and smoke I'd had to crawl through to get in here. I looked at my arms and saw that they were also covered in the stuff. Jessie took a damp rag out of her pocket and went to work on them, scrubbing them off until the black was all but gone. Then she started on my face, dabbing it across my skin and getting all the grime and dirt off of it. When she was finished, she didn't move away just yet. Instead, she paused and gazed at me for a moment.

"I… I just wanted to say thank you… for saving my life…"

Before I could say or do anything, Jessie leaned in and brushed her lips against my cheek. Then she was gone, heading to the next car after the others. I blinked, trying to take it all in and not entirely sure at first what had just happened, then I reached up and touched the spot on my face where she had kissed me. _Did she… really just do that? _With more of an effort than I had expected, I shook off those thoughts and headed through the doorway.

They were all scattered throughout the next car, which was empty aside from us and two other passengers. One of them, smelling of beer and a few other, less savory things, glanced up at me from where he lay sprawled across several seats to my left and held a dented metal flask in his hand. "Oh, this is my house, so make yourselves at home."

"You see the headlines they've got here in the _Shinra Times_?" said another man sitting on the other side, indicating the newspaper he was reading as I was walking by. "The terrorists that bombed Mako Reactor 1 are based somewhere in the slums. Blowing up a reactor! They really planned this one out. I wonder what they'll do next?"

At that, I exchanged a concerned glance with Barret, who sat about halfway down on the same side, but didn't answer the old man's spoken thought. So, Shinra knew to look in the slums for us even if they didn't know yet who they were looking for. I saw my own unease reflected in Barret's grim countenance. The slums stretched out beneath the entire city, but Shinra had plenty of ways of tracking down information. And there was no shortage of people down there that were heartless enough or desperate enough to sell out some of their neighbors to Shinra for a bit of quick cash.

There wasn't anything we could really do about it for now, though, so I put the matter aside and hoped I was worrying over nothing. Why was I even worrying about Barret and his bunch at all, come to think of it? My plan was to get my money and then get out of here. I didn't need to have Shinra breathing down my neck, and I wasn't sure how much longer I could stand to be in this city. I couldn't even remember why I'd come here in the first place.

I walked to the far end of the car, where Biggs was reclining against the wall, his arms folded in front of him and his dark eyes drooping so heavily they looked as though they would slam shut at any minute. He glanced up at me as I approached. "Looks like the train hasn't switched to security mode yet. I'm sure that'll change by tomorrow."

"You think we'll be heading out again so soon?" I asked.

"That's up to the boss. Man, I'm beat. I'm gonna sleep 'til we get to the station."

With that, he closed his eyes and was dozing in less than a minute. I turned around to find Jessie standing by a monitor on the other wall, staring at it in rapt fascination as she faced away from me. But with her cheeks turning the color of ripe apples, she knew I was there. I thought about what had happened between us in the other car and wasn't sure at first what to say to her.

But then Jessie looked at me and smiled, although her voice wasn't quite steady when she spoke. "H-Hey, Cloud! You want to look at this with me? It's a map of the Midgar Rail System. I-It'll be fun watching it together! I'll explain it to you, too."

I nodded. "Sure. Sounds interesting."

"I like this kinda thing. Bombs, monitors… you know, flashy stuff."

I moved over to look at the screen with her and tried not to think about how close she was. It was more distracting than I cared to admit. Bringing my attention back to the screen, I saw a bright green diagram of the city upon a black background as Jessie began narrating. "This is a wireframe model of the city of Midgar. It's at around a 1/10,000 scale, and the top plate sits at about 170 feet above the ground. A huge pillar supports the top plate in the center, and there are smaller ones for each sector. These smaller pillars are also known as mechanized towers, and there are eight in all, one in every sector."

She glanced around and then lowered her voice to a whisper. "We destroyed Mako Reactor 1 up in the northern section. Then there's 2, 3, all the way up to Mako Reactor 8. The eight reactors provide Midgar with electricity. Each sector used to have a name, but no one in Midgar remembers them. Now we just use numbers instead. That's the kind of place this is."

"Next is this," she continued, speaking up again. "Take a look!"

A curving line of white dots blinked into life along the interior of the diagram as it zoomed in. Jessie continued, tracing her finger along it as she did so. "The train we're riding on follows this route displayed here. The route spirals all the way around the central pillar. We should be almost halfway home right about now. Every checkpoint along the route has an ID sensor device. It checks every passenger's identification and background. Then it verifies all that data with the main computer inside Shinra Headquarters."

She leaned over and whispered in my ear, the soft feel of her breath making my skin tingle with warmth. "We definitely look suspicious, so we're using fake ID's."

_No kidding,_ I thought. Barret and his bunch did kind of stand out a little. I just hoped it wouldn't get them into trouble. Suddenly the lights in the train flashed red, blinking intermittently as a shrill beeping filled the air. Jessie and I looked up, but she didn't seem too worried about it. "Speak of the devil… That red light means we're passing through an ID security checkpoint. When the lights go off, you never know what kind of creeps'll come out."

After just a moment, the beeping stopped and the lights went back to normal. I looked around and noticed that Biggs was still out, having slept through the whole thing. He snored and mumbled something in his sleep. "Don't act so damn big, Barret…"

Jessie laughed at him, and to my surprise, I found myself joining in along with her. In the middle of it, our eyes met, and I realized that her soft brown irises weren't at all unattractive. Rather the opposite, in fact. Our laughter died off then, just sort of fading away, and for a moment, neither of us spoke. We just gazed at each other until Jessie blinked and finally managed to find her voice again. "Well, um… e-enough about that. We're almost back now."

"Thanks for the show," I told her.

"Not a problem! Hey, Cloud! How about I whip up a special ID for you? What do you think?"

I nodded. "Looking forward to it."

"Great!" she grinned, practically dancing as she clapped her gloved hands together. "I'll give it everything I've got and make it with a _bang!_ I'm all fired up now, Cloud! I… I think you've really lit my fuse!"

Her eyes lingered on me for a moment, then she blushed again and turned away. I guess she'd said more than she meant to, or meant more than she'd said. She was certainly pretty enough, with her long ponytail of reddish-brown hair, freckled cheeks, and a pair of nice legs beneath her olive green shorts. I didn't really know what to do about it, though, so I decided to put it out of my mind for now. Wedge was nearby, busy adjusting his belt as his eyes brimmed with excitement. "AVALANCHE is gonna be famous… and me, too! Do ya think I've got a bright future ahead of me, Cloud?"

I shrugged. "What do you have in mind?"

"All my life, I felt like I was nothin' but a sidekick," he replied. "But now, after joinin' up with AVALANCHE and tryin' to save the planet, I think I can really make a difference."

_W__e'll see about that, kid._ I moved on, heading toward the middle of the car where Barret sat with his arms stretched out. Outside, the light had grown just a little brighter, though it was still as sullen and gloomy as always. I didn't think it would ever change.

The only sound at the moment was the faint rumbling of the train coasting along the tracks as it wound its way steadily down toward the slums and left the upper city behind.

Barret glanced over his shoulder, his voice oddly quiet. "Look, you can see the surface now. This city, it don't have no day or night. If only that damn plate weren't there, we could see the sky."

"A floating city…" I murmured, leaning in next to him to gaze out the window. "Pretty unsettling scenery."

"Huh? Didn't expect to hear that outta someone like you. You jus' full of surprises." He stood up and continued. "The upper world, a city on a plate… it's 'cause of that goddamn thing that the people beneath it are sufferin'. An' the slums down there are full of pollution."

"On top'a that," he said, walking up and down the train car to look us one at a time, "the reactors keep drainin' all the life away. Because of them, the land around here's almost totally barren. An' they ain't doin' a goddamn thing to clean the air anymore."

"Then why doesn't everyone move onto the plate?"

He turned to me and shrugged. "Dunno. Probably 'cause they ain't got no money. Or maybe… 'cause they love their land, no matter how polluted it gets."

"I know…" I nodded, still looking out the window. "No one lives in the slums because they want to. It's like this train. It can't run anywhere except where its rails take it."

It was about twenty minutes later when the train finally pulled up to the station near the Sector 7 slums with a loud hiss of steam and the squealing of the brakes. We got off one after another, stepping out onto a platform lit by a solitary streetlamp where a lone attendant stood and helped the other passengers disembark.

Across the way, several dark and dead trains stretched out across a maze of broken and crisscrossing tracks that went on into the distance and formed what was known as the Train Graveyard. An appropriate enough name, to be sure, especially with all those stories and rumors of ghosts and such that supposedly haunted the place. Not that I believed any of them, mind you. At least, not yet.

"Hey, c'mon over here, all'ya!" Barret called out to us, and after we all gathered around him, he went on. "This mission was a success, but don't be gettin' careless now. The hard part's still to come. This was just the _first_ reactor. We're really gonna wake 'em up when we hit the next one! Meet back at the hideout! Move out!"

We did so, heading off down the muddy path toward the slums. As we passed through a clearing surrounded by mounds of junk, I slowed down for a moment. Behind a large fenced-in area off to my right rose one of the massive support pillars that Jessie had told me about earlier. I walked over to get a closer look, noticing as I did so the presence of a dark-haired young man gazing at the pillar so intently he didn't realize I was there until I stood right next to him.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing? Just get out! Geez!" He jumped almost a foot in the air as soon as he saw me, then grinned sheepishly. "Oh, wait… you came to see it, too?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Pretty big, isn't it?"

"Sure is! I heard there was a bombing up above. Makes you think, you know? If this pillar were to ever come down, everyone in the slums would be dust! Well, there's no point in worrying about that, is there? It might sound a little funny, but this place is kinda special to me. This is my place, but you can come here, too. See ya!"

He ran away as I continued to gaze up at the pillar for a moment. A winding stairway rose up alongside it about a hundred feet in the air to a small circular platform that was probably used for maintenance. The pillar itself was connected to a huge square column of stone that went all the way up to the underside of the plate, which spread out above me as far overhead as I could see and just as Barret had pointed out earlier, completely blocked out any hint of the sky. I shivered as the thought of all that weight above me suddenly filled my mind. And then there was something else, a deep sense of dread and unease I couldn't explain or ignore. All I knew then was that looking up at the pillar made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

"Yo, Cloud!" Barret's voice scattered my thoughts like leaves in the wind. "Over here, now!"

With a final uneasy glance at the pillar, I turned away and followed Barret to the slums.


	4. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - THREE

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**THREE**

The Sector 7 slums were a collection of ramshackle buildings made with discarded sheets of metal, plywood and whatever else people here could find amidst all the junk and debris that eventually found its way down here from the plate.

It was mostly a scattering of tiny makeshift houses sitting forlornly in the dirt that always covered the ground everywhere you looked, but there were two exceptions that caught my eye almost immediately. The first was the combined inn and weapon shop, a short three-story tower of mismatched metal with ladders and stairs and filled with the sounds of heavy machinery and people coming and going.

The second was my destination, _Tifa's Seventh Heaven._ The bar was easily the largest building in the slums, with several floors and a bright yellow neon light curving above the door. It was also the only building with a porch. The wooden deck with its high railing almost completely encircled the building, and a set of short wooden stairs led up from the muddy ground up to the porch, where a pair of swinging saloon doors marked the main entrance. A sign just above them showed the name of the bar in bright, bold letters.

Barret and the rest jogged ahead of me through the slums until we reached the bar. When we got there, he told us to wait, then he went in alone. A moment later, the sound of gunfire ripped through the air and a small cluster of disgruntled customers poured out the doors and into the dirt, almost falling over each other to get away from Barret and the bar as fast as they could.

They scattered across the slums like mice, muttering to themselves as they ran, Barret waving his arms after them and scowling until they were all well out of sight.

"What was that for?" I asked as Biggs and the others went inside.

"We got some plannin' to do, SOLDIER boy, an' we don't need no one eavesdroppin' on us. Go on inside."

I did, pushing open the saloon doors. Tifa's place, unlike the slums outside, was clean and well-kept, the aromas of hot food filling the air. A small collection of wooden tables and chairs stood in the front of the main room, and the bar itself stretched most of the way along the back wall with a row of stools lined up against it, all of which were empty at the moment thanks to Barret.

In the back corner of the room was the kitchen, and drinks, mixes, and various fruits, vegetables, and other foods were all lined up along a series of shelves behind the bar. At the time, I didn't know what half of them were even called. Laugh all you want, I don't mind. Back in those days, I didn't even know the difference between a carrot and cucumber. Tifa's taught me a lot over the years, though.

As soon as I stepped into the bar, there was an excited squeal from the back. "Daddy!"

Before I knew it, a little girl about four years old was racing toward me, her arms open wide and a smile on her face. She stopped short just as soon as she got a good look at me, though, apparently realizing that I wasn't who she had thought I was.

She stood there for a moment, looking at me with a pair of curious brown eyes and nibbling on one of her fingers, then turned and dashed right back the way she'd come, her short auburn hair flying out behind her. Tifa was already there, though, slipping out from behind the bar to kneel down next to her.

"Marlene, aren't you going to say anything to Cloud?" she asked.

She didn't. Tifa whispered to her for a moment, then came over to me, Marlene following close behind her. Tifa smiled at her, then turned to me. "Sorry, Cloud. Looks like Marlene's a little shy."

"It's alright. She's a cute kid."

"Yeah, she is, isn't she?," Tifa chuckled. "So, welcome home, Cloud. Looks like everything went well. Did you fight with Barret?"

Tifa folded her arms underneath her rather considerable chest, her eyes—which were an exotic and alluring blend of dark red and a deep, chocolate brown—already knowing the answer. She was an old friend, we'd grown up together as kids but hadn't seen each other in years until recently. Time had certainly been good to her, though. _Very_ good. She had a lot more curves beneath her sleeveless gray shirt now than she'd had back then, and below the black leather miniskirt she wore, her legs were long and shapely. Her dark brown hair was tied into a neat fishtail where it hung down past her waist, and pair of small teardrop earrings dangled from her ears.

I nodded. "Yeah…"

"I figured as much," Tifa said. "That's so typical of him. He's always pushing people around, and you've been getting into fights ever since you were little. I was worried."

It was true that I'd been a bit of a brawler when I was kid, though I didn't remember those days well enough then to know why I acted the way I did. But Tifa needn't have worried.

While I'll admit there was a certain amount of fun in setting Barret off, I wasn't interested in turning things into a fistfight. I wasn't all that sure sure what to think about the man just yet, not that I was planning to be around long enough for it to matter in any case.

I shrugged. "I'm not gonna start punching him, if that's what you're afraid of."

"Good," she laughed. "But you know, he's not that bad once you get to know him, Cloud. The others, too."

"Maybe. But I don't intend to stick around to find out."

She sighed. We'd had this talk before. But I knew she was still going to keep trying to convince me to stay anyway. Tifa's not the type to give up easily. Ever since we had first run into each other at the train station about a month ago, she'd been doing just about everything she could to keep me around, even offering me a job with her little resistance group here. But that was all over now, and Tifa knew it as well as I did. There wasn't anything she could say or do that would change my mind.

Her eyes found something tucked into my belt. "A flower? They're so hard to find these days. You almost never see them down here in the slums. Where did you get it?"

"Bought it on the way back here," I replied.

"Oh, I see. So… is there anyone special you'd like to give it to?"

Although she had asked the question jokingly enough, I still hadn't missed the hopeful glint shining within Tifa's eyes as she had looked at me. I'd almost forgotten about the flower until she mentioned it, and it hadn't occurred to me before to give it to someone. But that's what they were for, right? And I knew she'd like it. It would make her happy, and I figured I owed it to her for being so adamant about leaving. Tifa meant a lot to me, after all. Still does.

I pulled the flower out of my belt and held it out to her. "Here, Tif. Take care of it for me."

"I will. Thank you, Cloud," she smiled at me as she took the yellow blossom. "It smells wonderful. Maybe I should fill the whole place with flowers, don't you think?"

I nodded and turned away as she and Marlene walked back behind the bar. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie were all sitting together at one of the nearby tables, talking with each other and eating ravenously from the steaming platters of hot food Tifa must have brought over to them just before I came in. She was a damn good cook, so good in fact that it had become something of a local legend around the slums. As I drew closer to the others, I reminded myself to ask Tifa later on if she could set me up with something to eat.

"Hey, Cloud!" Biggs waved to me. "Sit down and join us! Care for a drink? There's no better way to relax after a mission!"

Barret was still busy outside, so I figured I might as well. It was as good a way to pass the time as any. I pulled up a chair—well, they were more like bar stools, only shorter—and sat down opposite Wedge, who was eating everything he could get his hands on while ignoring Jessie's pleas to stop making such a mess.

He grinned. "Oh, Cloud! Tifa really knows how to cook, let me tell you! She always lets me taste her cooking, you know? And just look at me now, I'm rolly-polly. Don't know whether I should be happy or sad. But it's the good food and drinks that make this place famous."

Biggs slid a glass toward me. When I took it, he nodded and leaned back in his seat with a smile that wasn't quite sober. "Hah! That's more like it! Even if you were with SOLDIER, you're still just a rookie here, Cloud. So you'd better do whatever I say! Uh... you might want to keep that from Barret, though, know what I mean?"

"He won't hear it from me," I promised, taking a sip.

On my right, Jessie pushed her plate away and leaned back in her chair. "Well, that was really good. Have you had anything yet, Cloud?"

"Not yet. How's the ankle?"

She smiled, reaching down to show me. I noticed that the swelling had already gone down quite a bit. "It feels much better now. Tifa gave me another potion to help it heal a little faster, too. I should be just fine for tomorrow's mission."

"Sounds good," I replied. "How's my ID coming along?"

"You remembered!" Jessie's eyes lit up, and she ran a hand through her hair, not quite able to meet my gaze. "That… that makes me really happy, you know? Barret wants to have a meeting when he gets here, so I haven't started yet, but I'll get to work on it right away as soon as he's done! You'll get the best one I can make, I promise!"

I didn't doubt it. "Thanks. So how'd you learn how to make bombs and fake ID's, anyway?"

"Well, I told you that I'm into that sort of thing, right? Gadgets and computers and things like that have always interested me, even before I joined AVALANCHE. I've been good with them ever since I was little. And I also worked up on the plate as a computer maintenance tech for a few years before coming down here."

"What company?" I asked, curious in spite of myself.

She glanced away for a moment before answering. "It doesn't really matter now. And as for how I made the bomb for today's mission, I just followed the instructions on my computer downstairs. It wasn't as hard as you'd think. Actually, it made a bigger blast than I thought it would. I'm really proud of it! It was my first bomb, you know?"

I raised an eyebrow, amused by how happy she was about it despite the fact that she'd nearly been killed by her own bomb. It didn't seem to have done anything to dampen her enthusiasm for explosives, anyway. Just then, Barret finally stomped inside the bar, and no sooner had he done so than Marlene raced across the room and leaped into his arms. His face splitting into a wide grin, he scooped her up and gently set her on top of his broad shoulders, holding her there with one burly arm as she hugged him tight. "Daddy, welcome home!"

He gazed at her fondly. "Thanks, sweetie, Daddy's home now. Have you been a good girl?"

"Yeah! I helped Tifa!"

"That's my girl!" he said. Then he turned and glanced at us. "Guys! Time to start the meetin'!"

We all got up as Barret to the pinball machine and flipped a switch hidden under the right side. He and Marlene rode the hidden elevator down to the basement, and after it came back up, the others all did the same, leaving me alone with Tifa. She walked over and started clearing off the table. I followed her back to the bar, where she beckoned to me after depositing her armful of dishes into the sink. "Cloud, come over here and take a seat."

I did so, sliding onto one of the stools in front of the bar. She came over to me. "How about a drink?"

"Sure," I nodded. "Make it strong, Tif."

She turned around, grabbed a bottle and a few mixers and then got to work. While she was busy, I let my gaze wander to the TV mounted in the corner. It was showing live coverage of our bombing of Reactor 1 with footage of the smoldering wreckage that was all that was left of it. The surrounding areas weren't any better off. Then the picture changed to show President Shinra standing in front of the mammoth tower that was Shinra Headquarters, an imposing structure located in the middle of the city, as he made his statement, cameras clicking and flashing all around him as he did so.

"_The terrorist group called AVALANCHE has claimed responsibility for today's bombing of Mako Reactor 1. According to this, AVALANCHE intends to continue its reign of terror with further destruction. However, citizens of Midgar, do not be alarmed. Shinra has immediately mobilized SOLDIER to protect you from any other acts of violence. Thank you for your time, and goodnight."_

Tifa came over and handed me my drink. "You know, I'm relieved you made it back safely."

"What's with you all of a sudden?" I frowned, bringing the glass to my lips and taking a sip. "That job wasn't even tough."

"No, I guess not. You were in SOLDIER."

After making herself a drink, Tifa sat down next to me. Neither of us spoke at first. We just sat nursing our drinks for a while and mulling over our thoughts. What was she so worried about? And why did she seem bothered about me having been in SOLDIER? It didn't make any sense. Or maybe it wasn't just about me, come to think of it. Was there something else on her mind as well?

I looked at her. "Are you having second thoughts about all this?"

"We've got to think big if we want to make a difference," she said, not meeting my gaze yet. "I know that. But… not like this, Cloud. I… I just don't know if this is right."

"Have you told Barret?"

She nodded. "Yeah. He just tells me not to worry. But I can't help it. I just… I feel trapped…"

"You could come with me," I offered.

I wouldn't mind the company, and she wouldn't be stuck having to babysit Barret's little resistance group, either. Tifa was damn good in a fight with those powerful fists and feet of hers, and in my line of work, that would definitely be useful. I had never thought of having a partner before, but the more I turned it over in my mind, the more I liked the idea, at least if it was her. If you're looking for someone to fight at your side and watch your back, you need someone you can trust. And there was no one I trusted more than Tifa.

She smiled but shook her head.. "I really appreciate it, Cloud, but my place is here. Oh, by the way, don't forget to see Barret about your pay before you leave. I really wish you'd stay, though."

"Sorry, Tifa. Once I get my money, I'm outta here."

"I know," she sighed. "Hey, Cloud. Are you feeling alright?"

I glanced over my shoulder at her as I stood up and moved toward the pinball machine. "Yeah, why?"

She looked down at her glass again, holding it carefully in both her gloved hands. "It's nothing. You just looked a little tired, I guess. You'd better go downstairs, though. Barret's waiting."

I nodded as I walked to the pinball machine, hit the hidden switch, and rode the elevator to the basement.

* * *

I was downstairs doin' some boxin' with Biggs an' the big punching bag we had down there while Jessie was busy workin' on her computer an' Wedge was sittin' at the table lookin' at the blueprints for Reactor 5 while munchin' on some snacks. Marlene sat nearby, watchin' me with them big brown eyes of hers an' swingin' her short lil' legs around. She jus' melts me every time, ya know? She's older now, but she knows she's always gonna be my baby girl no matter what.

Anyway, I'd already gone over everythin' with Biggs an' the others. I was jus' waitin' for Cloud to drag his skinny ass down here. There was somethin' on my mind, somethin' I'd been wonderin' about since I saw that damn TV report on the big screen in the corner here not long ago. I'd already had my message sent over to Shinra before we ever got back to Sector 7 so they'd know what we was about, but them damn bastards twisted it to make _us_ look like the bad guys. I'd wanted to shoot that fat son of a bitch President Shinra through that goddamn screen when he started talkin' shit about us like that.

Finally, Cloud showed up, ridin' our secret elevator down here and steppin' off it when it got to the bottom. Jessie had put it together, an' it was her idea to use that old pinball machine to disguise it. It rode back upstairs as Cloud walked over to me and stopped, his hands folded in front of him as he stared at me with those weird blue mako eyes of his. I quit boxin' an' turned 'round to face him. "Yo, Cloud! I got somethin' I wanna ask you. Was there anyone from SOLDIER fightin' us today? Were any of those bots we trashed made by SOLDIER?"

He shook his head. "None. I'm positive."

"How can you be so damn sure?"

"If you'd fought against SOLDIER, you wouldn't be standing here now," he said.

Goddamn kid didn't know who he was talkin' to. I wasn't gonna go down easy, whether we fought against SOLDIER or not. That kid had a lot of lip, an' I was gettin' pretty damn tired of it. He was gonna have to learn his place if he was gonna stick around, not that I really expected him to, though. Kid loved his money too much.

I snorted. "Don't gimme that bullshit, Cloud! Just 'cause you used to be in SOLDIER don't mean squat. Yeah, you're strong, I give ya that. I bet all of them guys in SOLDIER are. But don't forget your skinny ass belongs to AVALANCHE now, so don't get no bright ideas 'bout stayin' with Shinra!"

"Stayin' with Shinra?" he said, his eyes narrowin'. "You asked me a question and I answered it. That's all."

He walked up to me 'til he was standin' right in my face, scowlin' at me. The kid was pissed, not that I cared. Jus' had to make sure he knew his place, an' apparently he wasn't likin' that. But if he wasn't gonna tow the line, he could just see himself out right now. I wasn't gonna tolerate no bullshit from him.

He leaned in close, his voice low. "I'm going upstairs. I want to talk about my money."

"Shit! Money… That really all you care about?"

Turnin' away, he started to head back upstairs, but before he could reach the elevator, it already started comin' down with Tifa ridin' on it. She got off an' hurried over to him. The damn girl didn't know when to quit. "Cloud, wait!"

I waved her off an' shook my head. "Let him go, Tifa. Looks like he still misses the Shinra!"

"Just shut the hell up, Barret!" he snapped, whirlin' on me. "I don't give a damn about Shinra or SOLDIER! But I don't care one bit about AVALANCHE or the planet either!"

With that, Cloud stormed past Tifa without another word an' rode up the elevator out of sight.

* * *

My heart swirling with a jumble of confused emotions, I followed Cloud upstairs. I wasn't at all surprised Barret had set him off like that. He still didn't trust Cloud, and Cloud didn't seem to like him, either. It would almost have been easier to just let Cloud go and be done with it all. But I couldn't.

It wasn't just because he was my friend, although that was certainly part of it. But there was also something else, something not quite right about him, something I had to figure out. He wasn't quite himself, and yet he was. It bothered me and even scared me a little, and it was why I had offered him the AVALANCHE job in the first place. If I could just convince him to stay, I knew I could find out the truth.

He stood with his arms folded in front of him in the middle of the room, fuming. I hurried to him. "Cloud, I'm asking you. Please join us. We need you."

"Sorry, Tifa..." he said without turning around.

"The planet's dying, Cloud. Slowly but surely, it's dying. Someone has to do something before it's too late."

Cloud shook his head and just walked across the room, every step thudding like a nail driving into my heart. He paused a moment before reaching the doors. "So let Barret and his buddies do something about it. It's got nothing to do with me."

I clenched my fists at my sides, suddenly angry, my blood running hot in my veins. Just who the hell did he think he was? This wasn't like the Cloud I knew, the Cloud I remembered. He had gotten into plenty of fights when he was a kid, but he had never been uncaring. What had gotten into him? I just couldn't believe that he was really going to leave, after everything we'd been through together.

"So, you're really leaving!?" I argued. "You're just going to walk out on your childhood friend!?"

Now Cloud did turn around to look at me, the fury in his eyes and face draining away. "How can you say that!?"

And there was something else as well, something precious to both of us. "You forgot the promise, too…"

"Promise?" He stared blankly at me.

I wasn't surprised, but disappointment filled me nevertheless. How could he have forgotten about that? It didn't make sense. It had been a wonderful moment for us back when we were just kids, a special night I had always cherished, and I was sure it meant as much to him, too. If I could just get him to remember it, then maybe, just maybe, he would stay. It was the only thing left I could think of to try.

I moved closer to him. "So… you _did_ forget. Don't you remember, Cloud? It was seven years ago…"

"Yeah… I do now. I thought you'd never come, and I was getting a little cold..."

* * *

"_Sorry I'm late!"_

_I turned to see Tifa leaning out from behind the broad wooden basin of the old village water tower, the wind ruffling the edges of her light blue dress. She looked really pretty in it, but I didn't have the nerve to tell her. I was fourteen, my blond hair pulled back into a ponytail as I sat on one side of water tower's ledge and she sat down around the corner from me. Our legs dangled out over the air, and I tried to relax as high above us, a thousand stars glittered in the night sky._

_Tifa turned to look at me. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something?"_

"_Come this spring, I'm leaving town for Midgar."_

"_All the boys are leaving," Tifa said, gazing down at the ground about twenty feet or so beneath us. An old pickup truck was parked in its usual spot over by the gate, and the lights from our houses shone brightly in the dark. Towards the back of the town, the old Shinra mansion stood alone in the night, and beyond it rose the Nibel mountains like the broken teeth of some immeasurably huge beast. __I had always wondered what was past them, and someday I intended to find out. Maybe with Tifa at my side, if I was lucky and she wanted to go._

_I got up and walked over to where Tifa was sitting. "But I'm different from them."_

"_How so?" she asked._

"_I'm not just looking for a job," I told her, hoping that she would be really impressed. "I want to join SOLDIER. I'm going to be the best there is, just like Sephiroth!"_

_Tifa's eyes widened. "Sephiroth? You mean _that_ Sephiroth?"_

_I nodded. There wasn't anyone in the world who didn't know about Sephiroth, Shinra's greatest warrior. He was young but incredibly strong, much more powerful than anyone else in SOLDIER. No one knew where he came from, except maybe for Shinra, and there was no one who could stand against him._

_Sephiroth was also a famous and highly-decorated war hero, having defeated hundreds of Wutai's best troops single-handedly during Shinra's long war against them, and it was my dream to be just like him._

"_Isn't it hard to join SOLDIER?" she went on._

_I nodded, climbing to the top of the water tower. "I probably won't be able to come back home for a while."_

"_Will you be in the newspapers if you make it?"_

_I grinned at her. "I'll try."_

_She glanced up at me, her face beautiful in the moonlight. "Hey, let's make a promise. Umm… if you get really famous and I'm ever in a bind, you'll come save me, alright?"_

"_What?"_

"_If I'm ever in trouble," she repeated, "my hero will come and rescue me. I'd just like to experience that at least once. Wouldn't you? Come on, Cloud! Promise me!"_

_I smiled again. "Alright… I promise."_

_We both looked up then as a shooting star suddenly raced across the sky far above us. I kept smiling while Tifa gasped with delight, and as the chilly autumn wind whispered around us, I climbed back down onto the ledge, wanting to be near her again. We sat there for a little while longer, just watching the stars and being together. We didn't say much more, but we didn't need to, either. I didn't want this night to ever end, and I hoped that neither did she._

* * *

"You remember now, don't you?" I said, prodding him gently. "Our promise?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah. But I'm not a hero, and I'm not famous. So I can't keep our promise."

That was a weak excuse, and he knew it as well as I did. A flicker of hope rose up within me at that thought. Cloud had never been the sort to go back on his word, and he didn't give it lightly, either.

Would he… would he decide to stay? I realized that I wanted more than just to keep an eye on him and unravel the puzzle he had become, but I wasn't sure I wanted to think just yet about why, or where those feelings were coming from.

"But you got your childhood dream, didn't you?" I argued, refusing to give up on him. "You joined SOLDIER, just like you said you would. So come on, Cloud! You've got to keep your promise."

"Wait a sec, big-time SOLDIER!" Barret called out, stepping off the elevator. "A promise is a promise! Here!"

With his good hand, he tossed him a small bag of gil. Cloud caught it easily and opened it, glanced inside for just a moment, then pulled it shut and slipped it inside his pocket. He glared at Barret. "You call this my pay? Don't make me laugh."

My eyes widened. "What? Then you'll…"

"You got the next job ready? Three thousand and I'm in."

"_What!?" _Barret exploded.

I rushed over to reassure him. "It's okay, Barret. Don't worry about it. We need all the help we can get, right?"

"But that money's for Marlene's schoolin'," he argued. When he saw my eyes narrow, though, he sighed in defeat and looked back at Cloud. "Two thousand!"

He nodded, and I finally relaxed, letting out a breath I hadn't even realized I'd been holding until now. He was really going to stay with us. Supposedly it was only for the next job, but I knew better. That was just his way of giving himself permission to stay. And I could live with that. As long as he was here, it didn't matter.

I couldn't help smiling at him. "Thank you, Cloud..."


	5. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - FOUR

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**FOUR**

"Cloud! I thought I'd find you out here."

That was Jess. Her voice came from behind me as she joined me on the deck outside the _Seventh Heaven_. I was leaning forward against the railing, my arms draped over it as I watched the bustle of activity going on in the slums. It was early evening now, or at least it would have been if there had been sky over us instead of that frowning plate. I hated not being able to see the clouds and the stars circling overhead and feel the wind blowing on my face.

I glanced over at Jessie as she came to stand next to me. "What's on your mind?"

"Barret wants us to sneak up to the plate tonight, you and me," she said. "We're going to deliver the package to the inside of Sector 4. We'll pick it up there tomorrow."

I knew exactly what she she talking about, of course. The bomb for our mission tomorrow. But standing out here where just anyone could hear us, we couldn't call it that. I thought then about what that old man on the train had said about how Shinra knew AVALANCHE was down here somewhere. What else did they know? I saw my unease mirrored in Jessie's face. She must have heard him as well. We looked out at the slums together in uneasy silence for a moment, wondering if someone out there was keeping tabs on us without us realizing it.

Finally, I broke the silence. "When do we leave?"

"As soon as you're ready."

I nodded. "Then we'd better mosey. How are we getting up there?"

"_Mosey?"_ She laughed and motioned for me to follow her. I did so, allowing her mirth to dispel some of the tension I'd felt, and we walked down the stairs to the dirty ground and then headed to the back of the _Seventh Heaven_. As we drew closer, I grinned in spite of myself as I saw what was there waiting for us. An old Hardy Daytona motorcycle stood up against the wall, rusted in spots here and there but still in relatively good shape nevertheless.

I ran a gloved hand lightly over the leather seat and nodded. "Very nice, Jess. Where'd you get it?"

"Been working on it off and on for the past six months, scavenging the junk piles for parts wherever I could find them and fixing the ones that were broken. She's all gassed up and ready."

"Then let's get goin'," I said, sliding onto the bike.

I gunned the engine to life as Jessie got on behind me, slipping her arms around my waist and looking out over my shoulder. It was a more distracting sensation than I'd expected, but not the least bit unpleasant. We drove out from behind the bar and through the slums, passing the fenced-in compound that held the pillar, and rode on toward the train station. There was an old service road which wasn't much more than a narrow strip of concrete running alongside the tracks. I hit the gas, and we sped onto it and into the winding tunnel leading up to the plate.

The breeze from our acceleration whipped past us as we made our way higher, and before long we were driving into Sector 4. Jessie patted me on the shoulder and pointed ahead of us, and I slowed down as we neared our destination. I brought the Hardy to a stop alongside a small hatch set into the wall with a short iron ladder leading up to it. Killing the engine, I got off the motorcycle as Jess did the same, a battered old gray backpack hanging from her shoulders.

"This way," she pointed to the hatch.

I climbed up first with Jessie following close behind me. The hatch led into a narrow service duct that went straight ahead for a few dozen feet before hitting a dead end with a second ladder set into the floor. It was a close fit, to be sure, but not so bad that we couldn't get through. We made our way down and followed the next duct until it opened up onto a series of connected platforms bordered with high metal railings. About twenty feet in front of us, a much taller ladder than the previous ones rose up almost out of sight into another open hatch while a short set of stairs off to the right led up to another set of platforms.

Jessie indicated the ladder ahead of us, and together we climbed up it until we reached the hatch. It led to another duct which opened into a small room from which a second duct went off to the left. We went to a corner of the room, where Jess slid her backpack from her shoulders and unzipped it. Inside was the bomb, made in the same fashion as the first one that I'd set. She took it out and gently set it onto the floor, then proceeded to pry one of the panels off of the wall with a metal spanner that she pulled from her belt. There was a dense thicket of pipes, wires, and metal beams inside. Picking up the bomb, Jessie nestled it carefully within its hiding spot amidst a cluster of thick cables, then replaced the panel on the wall and put the spanner away.

She sighed. "All set."

"You okay?" I asked.

At first she didn't answer, and I wondered if she had heard me. But then she spoke, so softly that I almost couldn't hear her. "It's just… you remember when I told you how happy I was with my bomb? And how it turned out to be much bigger than I'd expected? Well, since then, I… I've heard that… a lot of people died because of it. And it's… it's all my fault. I knew that… that people might get hurt, but I… I never thought anyone would really die. At least… that's what I kept telling myself. But maybe I… maybe I knew it all along and… and I just didn't want to see it. Maybe I didn't want to admit it… even to myself."

"What happened?"

"I… I miscalculated," she said, her chest starting to hitch. "I still… I still don't know where or how. But it's the only way I can see that it… could have happened. And yet… here I am… helping to set off another bomb. Causing even more destruction and… and maybe… death. I… I adjusted this one so that… so that its output will be lower than the first one, but it… it'll still cause a lot of damage. Barret says that it… that it's necessary to save the planet, but… I just… I don't know anymore. If he asks me to make another one after this, I… I don't think that I can. It's hard enough… living with myself now as it is…"

So that was why Jess had been so quiet ever since we'd gotten here, only saying where we had to go and hardly anything else. I was starting to understand now. It had probably been on her mind the closer we got to this place, and hiding the bomb here had brought it to the forefront of her attention. She sat there in the dimness, looking away as her eyes glistened with unshed tears and she fought to stay calm and composed. It was a battle I could tell she was losing.

A moment later, the dam finally broke, and before I knew it, Jessie was leaning against me, her head resting upon my shoulder as she let it all out. I just sat there, not knowing what else to do or how I had ended up in this position. Tentatively, I wrapped an arm around her, still not sure how I had wound up having her so close to me but not wanting to be insensitive, either. So I held her there for a while as she clung tightly to me and wept.

Eventually, the torrent subsided, but she didn't let go quite yet, and neither did I. We didn't even move at first. We just sat there together in the dimness of that small room for the longest time, neither of us really saying anything. The quiet was enough, and I found myself reluctant to break it. I don't know how long we were there, just sitting together and listening to nothing but silence and the whisper of our own breathing, but it seemed like an eternity.

Jessie looked up at me, her face streaked with wetness and her eyes red. "Am I… am I a bad person, Cloud?"

"If you're even asking that question, then the answer's no."

"But how can you be sure?" she asked, sniffling. "Because of me, so many people…"

I shook my head and put my hand on her shoulder. "A bad person wouldn't care, Jessie. You do. It's that simple, really. You wouldn't be so broken up about it otherwise."

"Cloud," she held me tighter. "Thank you…"

After a few minutes, Jessie let go, but she didn't move away. Instead she sat next me, her back against the wall just as mine was. She reached across the floor with her foot and drew her backpack to her, then took out a pair of those protein bars she liked. She handed me one and kept the other one for herself.

As we ate, she also took out a bottle of water and we passed it back and forth, sharing it between us. I'd had some dinner at the bar earlier, but that had to have been at least a couple hours ago, and I didn't mind the snack that Jessie had brought with her. I didn't mind her company, either. I found I was actually starting to like it.

"Cloud," Jessie asked. "All that stuff you said to Barret earlier today down in the basement, about not caring about us or anything… I don't think you really meant it, did you?"

"Why do you say that?"

Jess took my hand in hers as she looked up at me. Her fingers were small, almost delicate, and I realized, much to my surprise, that I liked holding them. It felt good, the soft sensation of her hand in mine, even through the leather gloves we both wore. Then a flutter swept through my stomach as I wondered what it would be like without them, to have our hands slide together with nothing in between. My heart beat a little faster at the thought.

Jess went on. "If you really didn't care, you wouldn't have saved me back in Reactor 1. Three times, no less. And you wouldn't have tried to comfort me earlier. It's that simple, really."

I couldn't help smiling at Jessie a little as she echoed my own words to her from not all that long ago. "You could be right. But that's a secret between you and me. Got it?"

She laughed. "Got it. Some date, huh?"

"Date?" I blinked.

She blushed a deep red and turned away. "Oh, um, it… it's nothing, really! Just forget I mentioned it."

I nodded as I got to my feet, helping Jess up as I did so. She smiled her thanks as we headed back through the duct to the high ladder and climbed down. So far, we had gotten through here without alerting any of Shinra's security forces. But no sooner had Jess and I stepped off the bottom of the ladder and back onto the central platform than a trio of dark red _Combatant_-class roboguards suddenly emerged from around the corner to our right along with a rolling automated rocket launcher packing nine smart missiles.

I drew my sword as Jessie pulled out an old machine gun she'd kept slung at her right hip. A belt pouch hung from her other side, and from it she took out one of her black disc-shaped grenades and sent it rolling along the floor toward the droids. They ignored it, instead opening fire at us with a blazing flurry of blue bolts. I ducked under that deadly hail as Jessie dove to the side, firing her gun at the mechs as she did so and scoring a few hits.

The grenade exploded barely a second or two later, blowing one of the Combatants apart and scorching another one. I raced in before the smoke cleared, spun low, and sliced at the two remaining droids. One of them staggered backwards, a deep, smoking gouge torn into its side, while the other dodged out of the way and swiped at me with one of its clawed arms. These mechs were tougher, faster, and smarter than their cousins from Reactor 1, it seemed. Still, I didn't think we'd have all that much trouble with them.

I blocked its claws with my sword, slamming the mech's arm out to the side as I swept Buster back across to meet it, then hit the droid with a swift series of slashes from first one side and then the other, back and forth, driving it backwards across the platform until it clanged against the railing right behind it. It fired another barrage of blue energy bolts at me, but I had already anticipated its counterattack, and I ducked low into a spinning backhand slash that cut right through its waist. It stood there motionless for a moment, then its top half tumbled over the edge while its legs collapsed to the floor.

"Cloud!"

I whirled around as soon as I heard Jessie's panicked voice. She was desperately fighting that last Combatant, firing round after round into it, but it still lurched toward her, claws extended. At the same time, the rocket launcher fired two of its missiles at me. I dodged out of the way just as they flew past me to smash into the wall nearby in a thunderous explosion that sent a shockwave of vibrations throughout the floor and nearly deafened me for a moment.

But before the launcher could fire another salvo, I concentrated on my materia, diving into myself as quickly as I dared and striking it with a crackling bolt of lightning that ignited all the remaining missiles and caused the rocket launcher to explode into a spectacular orange fireball that sent spinning shards of metal flying in all directions.

There wasn't any time to celebrate, though, as that third mech was still closing on Jess. She gripped her machine gun in both hands, firing at the thing's face and chest, and while she did that, I lifted Buster over my head and threw it at the mech with all my strength. The sword flew end over end through the air until it smashed into the mech's back and pinned it against the wall next to Jessie, where it twitched and sparked for a minute before finally shutting down.

I walked over and pulled Buster from the wall. "You alright, Jess?"

"Yeah, thanks to you," she smiled, lowering her gun and hanging it from her belt again. Her brown eyes danced. "You're starting to make a habit out of saving my life."

"Only because you seem to like trouble," I grinned.

Jessie and I laughed together, and our gazes lingered on each other for a moment after our voices trailed off into a comfortable silence. At first, I didn't know what to say, and she didn't seem to, either. Then Jess slid a hand through her hair and tried not to blush again, but she didn't have much success. "Well, um, I… I guess we better go."

We made our way back through the labyrinth of ducts and ladders until we emerged once again inside the train tunnel where we'd left the motorcycle. It was still there where we'd left it, and we were just getting back on when a voice suddenly cut through the stillness like a hammer through glass as the tunnel filled with the sounds of motors revving to life all around us.

"Halt! Stop right there!"

Jess drew her gun. "Shinra soldiers!"

Hitting the gas, I nodded and reached for my sword, gripping it in one hand while driving down the tunnel with the other. We sped away, several of Shinra's motorcycle-mounted troops close behind us. Where had they come from? I didn't have time to wonder about it, though, as two of the soldiers closed in from either side, each brandishing a rifle. I swept Buster out to my right while Jessie fired to the left, and a second later, both solders flew from their bikes and crashed to the ground with pained shouts as their riderless vehicles collapsed.

I swerved to the right as gunfire suddenly erupted from behind us, then dodged back to the left when more flew at us from the other side. I could hear Jessie shooting back at them, and a scream followed by a thud and a crunching of metal told me she'd gotten another of them. A glance behind me showed almost half a dozen solders still chasing after us, and I had to keep swerving the motorcycle back and forth to avoid the blasts from their rifles.

Suddenly, there was a series of empty clicks from Jessie's gun as she ran out of ammo, and then I felt her clinging tightly to me as we raced onward. Two more soldiers rode up on either side of us, and I slashed first to the right and then to the left before they could fire, and they fell away, their bikes crashing to the ground. Another soldier wasn't able to swerve aside in time and drove headlong into the wreckage, the impact sending him flying away with a startled shout.

There was a jerk as another of the troops rammed into us from the left side. Jessie let out a startled gasp at the impact, and I slashed at the soldier as he pulled his motorcycle away, but he ducked under Buster's broad blade and slammed his bike into us again, jolting us and driving us against the wall of the tunnel. Sparks flew on our right as the Hardy scraped along the metal beams with an earsplitting squeal as the sharp report of bullets sounding from not too far behind us reminded us that the rest of our pursuers were closing in on us.

I gripped the handlebars tighter, narrowed my eyes, and jerked the Hardy back against the bike pressing us up against the wall. It fell away at once, and as the soldier fought to catch it and ram us again, I lashed out with Buster. Not at the man driving it, but instead at his bike where the front wheel joined up with the body. My sword sliced right through the metal frame, neatly severing the wheel in one clean stroke, and as it tumbled away, what was left of the motorcycle flew into a forward spin and took the hapless soldier with it before crashing back to the ground in a broken heap.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jessie pull out yet another of her black discs and throw it at the rest of our pursuers as they caught up to us. I pushed the Hardy even faster as the tunnel behind us suddenly lit up in a blaze of orange flames and dark smoke. A wave of heat washed over us as we shot clear of the explosion only an instant before it would have overtaken us, Jessie's arms squeezing about my waist as she buried her head against my back and shoulder.

We raced home, worry growing in my mind with every mile.

* * *

The bar was bustling with the evening crowd as I worked behind the bar, Marlene hovering at my side. She liked helping out with things back here even though she was too small to do very much. Sometimes I would lift her up so she could reach a glass or plate for me.

But even her cheerful presence couldn't take my mind away from the worry that chewed at it like a hungry rodent. It was half past eight, and Cloud and Jessie should have been back long before now. A glance across the room at Barret showed me the same thing was on his mind. Where were they?

Before I could wonder very much about it, though, Johnny started clamoring for another drink. He had already had a few and was getting close to his limit. I'd have to send him home again before long, and he'd probably make a fuss like he often did.

At least until Barret showed him out. Johnny practically lived here, and I knew exactly why. I'll admit, I was flattered by his interest in me, it was a little sweet in a way, but I'd made it very clear to him more than once that I wasn't interested. He just sat at his usual spot at the bar day after day in that black leather jacket, his eyes always finding me sooner or later and coming back whenever they drifted away.

I was just pouring him his drink when a sound suddenly filled the air outside, a sound I'd been waiting and hoping to hear for hours now. The loud and unmistakable revving of a motorcycle powering through the slums. My heart leaped even as Johnny scowled and turned his red-haired head toward the door. He didn't really like Cloud all that much, probably thought he was some sort of rival for my affections. Not that Cloud had shown any interest like that in me ever since he'd first come back into my life not too long ago. I wished he would, though. I wished it with everything that I was.

A moment later, Cloud pushed open the saloon doors and stepped inside, his face dark as Jessie followed behind him. Both of them had a number of cuts and scratches on them, and that could only have meant one thing. They'd seen a fight, or more than one, and my worries grew tenfold as I hurried to see them. Barret joined us and so did Biggs and Wedge, who'd been busy helping me out like they usually did when the nighttime crowds inevitably found their way in.

"Barret," Cloud said in a low voice. "We need to talk."

He nodded, seeing just as well as I did the trouble on Cloud's face. "Awright. Jus' gimme a sec to clear out the crowd."

While Barret, Biggs, and Wedge got everyone moving toward the doors, I headed back to the bar, took a damp cloth, peroxide, and a few potions that I had Marlene get for me from one of the bottom drawers, and motioned for Cloud and Jess to sit at one of the empty tables. Then I went to work on their wounds and gave them each a potion to drink. Fortunately, they didn't have any serious injuries, so it didn't take long to get them patched up. By the time I was finished, the customers were all gone and the six of us were finally alone. And suddenly I was afraid of what Cloud would tell us.

"What is it, Cloud?" I asked. "What happened?"

"We hid the bomb just as we planned, Tif. But on the way back, we were ambushed. Twice. First by a patrol of roboguards inside the plate, then by a squad of Shinra soldiers on the way back here."

Barret frowned. "The hell? How'd they know you was there?"

"I'm not sure. But we didn't run into a thing until _after_ we'd hidden the bomb. If they were there for as long as I think they were, they could have attacked us at any time. But they waited until then."

"You think they know what we're gonna do?" Biggs asked.

A cold shiver of dread ran down my spine at the thought of it. How could Shinra possibly know? They couldn't. Could they? We had taken every precaution we could think of to keep our activities a secret. And even if they did know, why would they let us keep doing it? Why would they have let Cloud and Jessie hide the bomb instead of trying to stop them? It didn't make sense. I wished I understood what it meant, but at the same time, I didn't _want_ to know.

Cloud nodded. "It's definitely possible. Which leaves us with only one question. Do we still go ahead with tomorrow's mission? Or do we call it off and wait to see what happens next?"

We all looked at Barret. It would be his decision whether we went ahead or not. I didn't know yet what it would be, but suddenly I hoped that he would put it off, at least for a few days. If Cloud was right, then it was too dangerous to go forward with it right now. But as I watched Barret mull things over in his mind, his muscled arms folded across his chest, I knew at that moment without a doubt what he would say. And I was suddenly afraid for all of us.

"We keep goin'," he looked at us each in turn. "No stoppin' now. We ride this train 'til the end."

None of us could have possibly known of the terrible impact those words would ultimately have on us all, or of the irrevocable course that they would soon set us on. Barret still regrets it, even today, and I hope through this retelling of our story, of the things we did and the terrible crisis we all faced together, that he might finally find some measure of peace about it. He's carried the weight of this and of what later came of it, the dark things that it led to, for so long now, trying so hard to make right what went so wrong. I just hope that, after all this time and all the struggles we've endured, he can finally let it go.

I hope I can, too.

* * *

I woke up the next morning to find someone shaking my shoulder. After rubbing my eyes and stretching my arms for a moment, I looked up and saw Jessie sitting in a chair next to the cot I'd slept in down here in the basement. I had come down here and crashed not very long after coming back with her from our trip to the plate last night. I still didn't really understand why Barret intended to go ahead with the mission in spite of the possibility that Shinra knew what we were up to.

He was so utterly determined to take out one reactor after another and strike at Shinra, but then what? What was his plan after we'd blown them all up and left Midgar without any power? Did he even have one? I wasn't so sure. There had to have been something more to his reasons for fighting Shinra than just saving the planet, but whatever they might have been, I didn't know.

I couldn't help feeling that Barret's strong hatred for Shinra might have led him into making a mistake last night. I knew that Tifa shared my concerns, I could see it in her eyes, but there wasn't really much we could do about it now except ride it out and hope for the best. We both knew Barret wasn't going to change his mind.

"Hey," Jess said, gently shaking my shoulder again and bringing me out of my thoughts. "You awake now?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Jess."

She smiled at me, her eyes twinkling with unvoiced laughter, as she stood up. "It's about time, sleepyhead! Everyone else is up and all set to go already! You know, for someone who was in SOLDIER, you sure do like to sleep in."

"Maybe I do," I smirked, sitting up and grabbing my shirt.

Jessie always seemed to know exactly what to say and when to help lighten my mood, and I found I liked that about her. Funny how just a day or so ago, she'd been practically a stranger to me. I hadn't said very much to her, Biggs, or Wedge since Tifa had brought me here from the train station a month or so ago until yesterday. I had pretty much kept to myself for most of that time while taking on a few odd jobs here and there around town.

Now that I had started getting to know Jessie and the others a little, though, I found that Tifa was right, as she usually was. They're weren't all that bad. And Jess… I was starting to like having her around. It just caught me by surprise since I hadn't intended to have very much to do with her or the others. But as I mentioned earlier, things don't always happen the way you expect. And also, when you spend time alone with someone, it can change your perspective about him or her, especially if you're facing danger together, as Jess and I did the previous night. I felt a little closer to her now, and I found that I liked that, just as I liked the sensation of her hand resting on my shoulder.

Jessie blushed as red as the headband she wore and gave me a slim plastic card with my picture on it. "Um… h-here's your ID, Cloud. I-I'll just… I'll just let you, um… get dressed now…"

Stumbling a little, Jessie headed to the elevator with a sheepish grin on her face as she disappeared upstairs. When she was gone, I finished getting dressed and slid my sword into the leather harness on my back. Buster was big, to be sure, but not nearly as heavy as you'd think, and it hung comfortably in its usual place where I could reach over and pull it out at a moment's notice. Once I was ready, I rode the elevator upstairs, thinking about today's mission and hoping that I was wrong about how much Shinra seemed to know about us.

Tifa smiled as I walked over to her. "Good morning, Cloud! We're just about ready to go. Did you sleep well?"

"Barret's snoring kept me up. He's a regular buzzsaw."

"Oh, I bet he is," she chuckled. "You should probably keep it down, though. He might hear you, and Barret's always edgy before a mission. Speaking of which, I'll be coming with you this time."

Barret waved me over. "Hey, Cloud! There's somethin' I wanna ask ya. An' don't be laughin' now. I, uh… I don't know how to use materia. You can keep that one you found, jus' show me how it works."

"You've never used it?" I raised an eyebrow. "It's not that hard."

"Nope, not once. That new gun I pulled off that big ol' scorpion we trashed back in Reactor 1 has a couple of them weird holes in it for 'em, but I ain't tried it yet."

So I went ahead and explained it to him, telling him about how the different slots worked and what all of the various kinds of materia did. There are five different types. There are also a few unique ones as well, but we'll get to that later on. Magic and summons let you call upon the planet's power to damage your enemies or protect your allies, while the other types of materia act in a more supportive way and enhance your other skills and spells. And a lot of them can also be combined to make even stronger, more useful effects. There are tons of crazy possibilities out there, trust me.

I stepped back when I was finished. "Got it now?"

"Shit! The hell it ain't that hard! I didn't get a damn word of it! You handle the materia, Cloud!"

That was fine with me. I took back the materia orb I'd shown him, the one I'd discovered back in Reactor 1. It was Restore, and its healing magic would definitely be useful in the many battles that were ahead of us. The glowing emerald sphere pulsed softly as I tossed it over to Tifa. She caught it and fitted it into one of the slots crafted into the backs of her fingerless red leather fighting gloves.

Although it was much too big at first, the glowing orb soon shrank until it fit perfectly within the small depression. That's another thing to remember about materia. Their size changes depending on where you put them and how much growth they've got. The more action they see, the more they grow and the more powerful they become.

Barret continued. "Our next mission is takin' out Mako Reactor 5. I'll fill you in on the train. But before we all head on over to the station, Jessie's got some info for us 'bout our target."

"I hacked into the Shinra database to get those blueprints you saw downstairs yesterday," Jess replied, coming over to join us. She handed Barret and Tifa their ID's as she continued. "You won't be getting inside through the front this time. Instead you'll enter the reactor through the interior of the Sector 4 plate. That way, you'll have less chance of being spotted by Shinra guards, security mechs, or SOLDIER troops. There's also a locked door you'll come to on your way out, and a control room off to the side. Back in Reactor 1, Biggs and I had the codes to open the doors, but it'll be different here."

"How so?" Tifa asked.

Jess held up a digital tablet with a detailed schematic of the reactor displayed on the screen. "Since you'll be coming at the doors from the inside this time, you're going to have to use the emergency override in the control room to open them. But there's a trick to it. There are three access panels on the main computer console. I gave Barret the security code to activate them, but once they're on, they all have to be hit at the same time for the doors to open."

Barret glanced at Tifa and I. "You two got that?"

"Hit them all at once," I repeated, and Tifa nodded her agreement. "No problem."

Satisfied, Barret turned as Marlene ran over to him and jumped up into his arms. He hugged her tightly for a moment, then put her down again and walked outside, Biggs and Jessie following close behind him, while she rejoined Wedge behind the bar. He was busy wiping it down with a clean rag and getting glasses ready for the customers that would be coming in soon, but he stopped for a minute and tossed me a small paper bag. "Hey, Cloud! Catch!"

I did so, knowing even before I pulled it open what was inside. The smell of Tifa's cooking was unmistakable. I figured she must have made me something while I was still sleeping, knowing I wouldn't have time to sit down to eat once I woke up. The aromas of eggs, sausage, onions, and melted cheese teased my nose along with biscuits and a few spices I couldn't quite name. Reaching inside the bag, I took a few bites of the sandwich and then put it back, saving the rest for the walk to the train. It was, just as I had expected, incredibly good. Tifa's still the best damn cook you'll ever find.

I nodded to Wedge. "Thanks. You're not coming?"

"I'll meet up with you guys later. Can't leave little Marlene here all by herself, you know. I'll have Johnny's mom come over and watch her when I leave. She's done it for us before."

"Got it. See you later, then."

"Yep!" he said. "You're great, Cloud, you know that? Don't you ever get nervous? Or are you like, totally immune to fear? Is that something you learn in SOLDIER?"

I shrugged. "You're always afraid, Wedge. It's part of the job."

"I'm a big guy, but I've always felt like I was nothin' but a coward at heart because I get scared so easily sometimes. But thanks, Cloud. That makes me feel a little better."

It's true, of course. Fear is always gonna be with you in a fight. The trick is to keep on going and not let it slow you down. Wedge seemed a little more relaxed now, at least, and hopefully he'd keep that in mind. Despite what I'd said to Barret in the basement yesterday, I found I did care. I still didn't get the deal about saving the planet and all that, but I didn't want anything to happen to these guys, either. Especially Jessie, I realized. I liked her, but was that all? Or was there more to it than that? I blinked and shook off that last thought in a hurry, not too sure about what that meant just yet.

Tifa glanced over at Marlene. "You and Wedge watch the bar while we're gone."

"Alright! Good luck!" she answered. "Take care!"

We found Barret outside a couple minutes later, walking back from the nearby materia shop and putting a shimmering green orb that he'd just bought into his new assault gun. He waved at us and motioned for Biggs and Jess to go on ahead, and they hurried off through the slums toward the train station, Jessie looking back at me for a moment as she did so and flashing me a smile. I nodded to her, giving her a small grin of my own, then turned back to Barret.

"Figured I'd try out some Fire materia," he growled. "I hope it don't blow up in my face."

Tifa laughed. "You'll be fine, Barret. Let's go!"

As we neared the outer border of the settlement, I paused for just a moment to look over my shoulder back the way we'd come. The slums were bustling with activity this morning, and not far away, the Seventh Heaven stood open for business. An odd premonition struck me then, and I suddenly felt as if I would never see this place again. I didn't have any idea why, only that my instincts told me that somehow, I wouldn't be coming back.

"Everything alright, Cloud?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah, Tif. Come on, let's go. We don't want to miss the train."


	6. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - FIVE

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**FIVE**

They was still busy connectin' the cars together when we stepped onto the train, so I knew we'd have at least a few minutes before we got movin'. It'd be jus' enough time to lay out the plan so we all knew what we had to do an' when. We couldn't bring the bomb with us, it'd set off the alarms. That was why I'd had Cloud an' Jess go ahead last night and hide it inside the plate near Sector 4. Goddamn place was like a friggin' maze in there with all of them ducts and ladders an' shit, but it was the best way for us to sneak inside the reactor without no one from Shinra knowin' about it.

Well, 'least I'd thought they didn't know. Now I wasn't so sure. But we couldn't back out now. Everythin' was already set up an' ready to go. We jus' had to see it through. If them Shinra was waitin' in there for us, we'd at least be ready for 'em. I figured that oughta give us an edge they ain't expectin' us to have. An' the chance to turn their own plan against 'em was jus' too good for me to ignore. Tifa an' Cloud were worried, an' I got that, but I knew we could handle anythin' Shinra threw at us. An' I wasn't gonna quit 'til I'd made all them goddamn Shinra bastards pay for everythin' they'd done.

Biggs an' Jessie were sittin' in seats on either side of the car, which was pretty packed this morning. There was also a guy in a dark red suit an' the drunk from yesterday. That guy always seemed to be back there layin' around with his booze whenever we rode this train. Not likin' the crowd, I turned an' motioned to Biggs an' Jessie to get movin'. "Yo! This ain't no private car, so split up!"

They got up an' headed to the next car to get started. Normally, the exit doors wouldn't open whenever the train' was movin', but Biggs an' Jess were gonna disable the security lockouts so that we could force 'em open ourselves when we got up there. I was about to tell Cloud an' Tifa about what we was gonna do when that guy in the red suit stood up an' muttered somethin' stupid under his breath 'bout us bein' hoodlums. I didn't much like the sound'a that.

"You say somethin'?" I headed his way and asked. He'd heard me, I didn't doubt it. He jus' didn't wanna 'fess up to what he'd said. So I tried again. "I said, 'You say somethin'!?"

Most of the folks sittin' in here got up and moved on up to the next car after that, none of 'em darin' to look me right in the eye, but I could feel 'em all starin' jus' the same as they hurried past me. It was the gun-arm, I knew. It had a way of scarin' people, and while I would've liked to be able to go places without havin' folks always bein' afraid of me for once, it was a small price to pay to be able to fight Shinra.

Again, the guy in the dark red suit kept his trap shut. So I went an' stood right in front of him. "Now jus' look at that! It got real empty all of a sudden. What's goin' on?"

"DAMN!" He _finally_ looked up at me, an' his eyes went as wide as dinner plates as soon as he did. "It… it's empty because of… because of g-guys like you…"

I slammed my gun-arm on the back of the seat next to him, an' the little runt jumped nearly a foot in the air, his huge eyes locked onto me. "You… you've seen the news reports, right? AVALANCHE says there'll be more bombings. Only devoted employees like me would go to work on a dangerous day like today."

"You work for Shinra?" I brought up my gun-arm, rage in my gut.

Tifa raced up to me jus' then, her eyes blazin' an' her fists clenched. "Barret! That's enough!"

"I won't give in to violence," that goddamn Shinra jerk whimpered as he sat there cowerin' in his seat with his hands above his head. "And I'm not giving you my seat, either!"

Still fumin', I lowered my arm. "Damn! You lucky bastard!"

If Tif hadn't intervened like she did, I honestly dunno what I'd have done. I'd like to say I was jus' tryin' to scare the guy, but I had so much anger in me back then, so much hate for the Shinra and everythin' that they was, that I've wondered sometimes if I would have actually killed him. I ain't proud of how I was in them days—I was a damn hypocrite, to be honest—an' so I'm glad Tifa stepped in to stop me. More than she probably knows. Revenge ain't any good for nothin' but causin' hurt to yourself an' jus' about everyone else around you. Took a long time an' a lot of pain an' loss for me to learn that lesson, but I did. We ain't got to that part yet, but jus' be patient an' we will. Still a long way to go yet in this story of ours.

Anyway, I grunted an' went to the back of the train car to join Tifa an' Cloud. He hadn't moved the whole time. Seemed a bit preoccupied, in fact. Probably still worryin' about the mission. Or jus' thinkin' about Jess. I hadn't missed the way he'd looked at her when she'd been in here earlier, or how she'd gazed back at him when she'd thought that no one was watchin'. The girl had it bad, even I could see that. Jessie was damn crazy about him. Cloud didn't have a clue, far as I could tell, but he did seem to like her a bit. That cool face he always kept on seemed to thaw out some whenever she was around, an' I wondered what else had gone on between them last night up at the plate.

"So what now?" Cloud asked, jerkin' me from my thoughts.

I frowned at him. "Shit! The hell you so calm for? You're bustin' up my rhythm!"

Before he could say anythin', though, there was a loud rumblin' an' a hissin' of steam jus' outside. Tifa looked up when she heard it. "Looks like they just finished connecting the cars. We're finally leaving."

"So what's the plan?" Cloud repeated.

"Ha! You jus' wanna get right to work, dontcha?" I laughed as we started movin'. Cloud didn't laugh back. Damn kid couldn't take a joke. "Awright, I'll tell ya. Jessie's probably already mentioned it, but there's a security checkpoint at the top plate. It's an ID scan system checkin' out all the trains."

"Which Shinra is very proud of," Tifa added.

I continued. "Since Shinra's got the train runnin' on security mode now, we can't use our fake ID's."

Jus' then, the overhead speaker came to life as the conductor made his announcement. "Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Midgar Lines. Arrival time at Sector 4 Station is 11:45am."

"That means we've only got three more minutes until we reach the ID checkpoint," Tifa said, tightening her gloves.

I looked from her to Cloud. "So in three minutes, we're jumpin' off this train. Got it?"

They both nodded and headed off to the far end of the car to get a look at that map on the monitor down there. I busied myself adjustin' my gun-arm in the meantime while the train rumbled beneath my feet as it ran on the rails.

It was about the only sound here amidst all them empty seats lined up along either side of the train car. I had jus' finished gettin' ready and was grabbin' onto one of them shiny metal poles as I stood there when suddenly them red lights flashed on.

"That's odd," Tifa murmured. "The ID checkpoint was supposed to be further down.

Before I could say a thing, the sirens went off, beepin' like crazy as alerts started floodin' the overhead speakers:

"_Type A Security Alert! __Several u__nidentified passengers confirmed! A __complete__ search of all cars will be conducted! Repeat! Type A Security Alert! Unidentified passengers confirmed! A __complete __search of all cars will be conducted!"_

"What the hell's goin' on?" I yelled as I joined the others.

Jus' then, Jess came runnin' through the door, her eyes wide as she beckoned to us. "We're in trouble! I'll explain later! Just get to the next car! Hurry!"

"Shit! Someone blew it! Goddamn fools…"

I followed Jessie, runnin' after her through the train with Cloud an' Tifa right behind me. More alerts were goin' off, talkin 'bout gettin' the car ready for lockdown and takin' it on back to the station. We headed outta there, meetin' up with Biggs on the way, an' got into the next car jus' in time. But the alert was still goin on', so we didn't stop but kept on goin' right through a third car. When we got into the fourth, the alarms turned off as quick as they came on an' the lights went back to normal. I had to blink for a minute to let my eyes adjust to the sudden change as we finally slowed down.

"Awright!" I said, catchin' my breath. "We clear!?"

Jessie shook her head. "No, not yet. They're starting another check, and if we're caught, we're done for! But don't worry. If we keep moving up the train, car by car, we should get past it!"

So we kept on goin', brushin' past the other folks on the train as we tried to outrun the security lockdown. Only a couple more cars left to go and we'd be at the end of the train.

From there we'd be home free, assuming that Jess an' Biggs got the doors open. But I wasn't worried 'bout it. The red lights started flashin' again as we was movin', but by this time I wasn't payin' any attention to it, jus' had my eyes fixed on where we had to go.

I was so dead set on gettin' through the train that I barely noticed a seedy-eyed tattooed guy brushin' past us in the other direction. By the time I realized my wallet was gone and whirled around, Cloud already had him by the arm. Damn kid was quick as a cat. The little thief took one look at those glowin' mako eyes of his and practically shoved my wallet back in his hand before runnin' the other way. Cloud tossed it to me without a word, an' I nodded my thanks to him before gettin' back underway. Caught Tifa grinnin' at us the whole time as we headed into the next car. That girl didn't miss a thing, I tell ya.

Finally we made it into the last car, an' at the far end were Biggs an' Jess, disguised now like we'd planned. The exit door on the left side was wide open an' waitin' for us.

The roar of the train coastin' on the tracks was louder now, and we had to almost shout to be heard. The breeze comin' in ruffled the edges of my sleeveless jacket as I knelt near the openin' and clapped Biggs on the shoulder. "Awright! We made it! We're gonna dive on outta here!"

Tifa looked at Cloud. "Scary, huh?"

"Too late for that now," he said. "Why'd you come along, anyway?"

That was a good question. She hadn't had to come with us, but she had insisted upon it when I'd been talkin' it over with her before Jessie had headed downstairs to wake up Cloud earlier this morning. I didn't understand why it was so important to her, but if she wanted to go that bad, I wasn't gonna stand in her way.

She ran a hand through her hair. "Because–"

"Hey, you two!" I cut in. "There ain't no time for that!"

She nodded an' stood by the door. "Yeah, you're right! I've made up my mind! Watch closely, guys! I'm gonna jump!"

A second later, she did, her hair flyin' out behind her as she leaped out into the tunnel. After sayin' somethin' to Jess about her disguise—I didn't catch what it was, but it must've been somethin' good 'cause she started beamin' like a fool an' turnin' red right afterward—Cloud went over to the open door and got ready to follow Tifa outside.

"You don't care if I go first?" he asked.

I shook my head. "A leader stays 'til the end. Don't worry 'bout me, jus' go! And don't be gettin' your spikey ass hurt, either, you hear? This mission's jus' gettin' started!"

* * *

A few minutes later, the three of us stood together in the tunnel as the train sped down the tracks and disappeared from sight. I noticed it was actually the very same tunnel that Jessie and I had driven through last night. Glancing around, I wondered if there were any more Shinra soldiers waiting for us somewhere, but nothing showed itself. We were alone, at least for the moment.

A series of glowing red lights were mounted on the walls at regular intervals, and a row of thin concrete columns divided the tunnel in two every few feet or so. My eyes scanned the shadows, of which there were far more than I would have liked, but there was no sound aside from our own breathing, the low hum of electricity and the faint dripping of water from some far-off pipe.

Barret nodded. "Good. So far, everything's goin' as planned. Don't be lettin' your guard down 'til we get to the reactor. Biggs an' Jessie got everythin' ready for us, an' Wedge'll be there, too. So move it!"

We did so, hurrying cautiously down the tunnel as it curved off to the right. Before long, we came to a part of the tunnel where the walls, floor, and even the ceiling were scorched and blackened in places from Jessie's bombs yesterday. Some of the lights were out, and many others flickered fitfully. There was nothing else, though. The fallen bikes were gone along with their riders. Shinra must have sent repair crews earlier, I supposed, but they apparently hadn't finished yet.

Moving onward, we soon came up to a dead end where a barrier of green energy beams stretched across the tunnel. At the base of the wall to the left was an opening just big enough for us to fit into. This was a different entry from the one Jessie and I had used the night before, and I wondered why we hadn't gone this way instead. But a look inside the opening showed me soon enough why she'd chosen to use an alternate route rather than come here.

Tifa knelt beside me as I peered into the duct. "Doesn't seem to be anything that'll get us stuck in here."

"Right," I agreed, "but if we go down this duct, we won't be able to come back."

The duct sloped downward at a steep angle, from what I could see, and it was too narrow for us to turn around. There was nothing to grab onto, either, if we were tried to return this way. We'd just end up sliding back down. So the only way out was through the reactor. Barret joined us, shivering as he gazed into the opening. "That's one damn tiny hole. You tellin' me to squeeze into that to get under the plate?"

"You don't like tight spots?" I asked.

"Not a bit, Cloud. You sure we gotta go this way?"

I shrugged. "Not much choice, really. The entrance Jess took me to is back in the other direction, and I don't think we have enough time to go and find it."

"Yeah, I s'pose you're right," Barret admitted. "But damn, that thing gives me the chills."

"You can hold my hand if you want," Tifa teased.

He snorted, rolled his eyes, and followed her inside the duct. After one last look around the tunnel, I went in after him. The duct stretched on, and the only light in there was from the flashlight Tifa was holding. We made our descent without a word, the only sound the soft rustling of our bodies against the walls as we made our way down. Time slowed to a crawl, and I wondered how Barret was holding up. He hadn't said anything, but his breathing had grown noticeably heavier.

I tapped him on his broad shoulder. "Just try to relax, Barret. We're almost there."

"The hell? You concerned 'bout me now, SOLDIER boy?" he shot me a surprised glance.

"Don't be ridiculous. I just don't want you freaking out in here and getting us all stuck, that's all."

He shook his head and grinned as he kept moving forward. "Yeah, jus' keep tellin' yerself that. I think we're startin' ta rub off on ya, Cloud. You jus' wait an' see."

"Don't count on it." I muttered.

By then, Tifa was dropping out of the duct and into a short tunnel beneath us. Barret seemed a bit more relaxed as he followed her, which was exactly what I'd been hoping for by distracting him with our little argument. Not that I'd have ever told him that, though.

A moment later, we stood in the tunnel, taking a minute to stretch our cramped limbs before moving on again. As we did so, I saw a small sparkle off in the corner and bent close to check it out. It was a slender vial of glowing, bright green fluid sealed shut with a round black cap. I picked it up and showed it to the others.

"The hell is that?" Barret asked.

"Ether," I explained. "When you use a lot of magic, it can wear you out. These things help rejuvenate you when that happens. But what's it doing here? Ordinary maintenance workers don't use them."

Tifa frowned as looked at it. "I'm not sure. Could it have belonged to a Shinra soldier?"

"It's possible. They don't all use magic, of course, but some of them do. And that raises another question. What was a Shinra soldier doing here in the first place?"

We looked at each other, and I found my unease mirrored in their eyes. Something wasn't right, and we all knew it. If the Shinra had been here sometime before us, where were they now? Where had they gone? It didn't make sense, and I didn't like it at all. We didn't have any choice but to keep on going, though, so I put the ether into my pocket and got moving again.

I led the way forward through the tunnel, and it ended just a short distance away where a metal ladder was set into the floor. We climbed down it into another, larger duct, and then followed it until we found a second ladder that descended still further.

After climbing down this one, we found ourselves inside the same open area full of connected platforms and railings that Jessie and I had traveled through yesterday when we had been down here together. But this time, I could hear the sound of gunfire below us, and as I dropped low to the floor in a crouch, I drew Buster and looked around, my eyes darting back and forth until I spotted what was going on.

At the base of a short flight of stairs, Wedge was kneeling behind a few wooden crates and shooting at a patrol of Combatants with a semi-automatic rifle. While Barret brought up his gun-arm and opened fire, I raced past him toward the enemy, Tifa at my side. Wedge flashed us a grin as he kept up his barrage of bullets, and a moment later, one of the mechs toppled over, full of holes. There were still half a dozen more of them, but that's where Tifa and I came in.

If there's one thing about Tifa, it's that she can kick ass like no one's business. While I dove beneath a flurry of blue bolts and slashed Buster at the nearest droid, she slammed aside the slicing claws of another one and smashed it with a string of quick punches, then followed it up with a brutal uppercut that sent the mech skyward. And while it was still in midair, she hit it with a swift roundhouse kick that sent it flying across the platform to land in a ruined heap of smoking metal.

In the meantime, I had already finished off the first mech and was busy fighting another. It slashed at me with its claws, but I swept Buster across and easily blocked the attack before quickly reversing the stroke and slicing a deep gouge across its chest. It staggered backwards, but I wasn't going to let it recover, so I pressed the attack, hitting it again and again, high, low, and high again. When the mech fired another salvo of blue energy beams, I spun low and impaled it through the chest with a backhand stab, then yanked my sword free as it collapsed.

Then another droid went down, falling apart as Barret and Wedge filled it with lead. Only two mechs to go. I shared a determined glance with Tifa, and we both closed in on the same enemy. Shrugging off the sting of the few stray energy bolts that managed to graze her arm, Tifa grabbed the Combatant by the shoulder, slammed it into the floor, and drove her elbow right into its chest, and as she sprinted out of the way, I jumped up and slammed Buster down onto the fallen roboguard in a swift overhead chop that nearly cleaved it in two and left it a twitching and sparking mess on the platform.

"Cloud! Tifa!" Wedge called. "Incoming!"

He took a grenade from his belt and tossed it at the last droid. Tifa and I dove for cover, and just a second later, thunder filled our ears as a fiery explosion ripped across the platform and tore the last mech apart. After a moment or two, I stood up and tried not to cough too much on the smoke hanging in the air while Tifa did the same, springing lightly back to her feet. She turned as Barret and Wedge walked up to us from behind the crates. "You guys alright?"

"We're jus' fine, Tifa," Barret grinned. "So much for the welcomin' committee, eh?"

"Jessie and I got here just a little while before you guys did," Wedge explained. "We were just about to head up to the hiding spot when our mechanical friends showed up."

I frowned. "Where is she now? Is she alright?"

"Jessie's fine, Cloud. I kept these buggers busy while she went to get the bomb. The reactor entrance is up this ladder. It's just past the room with the hiding spot, so you can't miss it. Biggs is up there, too."

Barret nodded. "You did good, Wedge. Now get on back home, you hear? We'll take care of the rest."

"Hey, Wedge," I said as he started to move away. "Nice work."

He grinned, waved, and ran off, disappearing into the same duct Jessie and I had used to get here last night. After he was gone, I started climbing up the high ladder while Tifa and Barret followed behind me, our boots clinking on the metal rungs.

A few minutes later, I found Jessie right where Wedge had said she was, standing in one corner of the little room near the panel where she had hidden the bomb. She looked up at us for a moment as we entered but wouldn't meet my gaze. I hurried over to her, not liking how upset she seemed. It reminded me too much of last night and how she'd been so torn up about the casualties from her bomb.

"What is it, Jess?" I asked.

"Oh, Cloud, I'm so sorry. The ID scan problem on the train, it… it was all my fault. I modified your ID card, and… and that's what set off the alarms. I did my best, but… I failed. You can yell at me if you want. I… I don't mind."

I shook my head. "Why would I do that?"

"Aren't you mad at me?" she stared at me in disbelief. "I wanted to make your ID into something really special, but I messed it up and we nearly got caught because of it."

"You didn't mean for it to happen. Don't worry about it."

Barret nodded. "He's right, Jess. Don't you go thinkin' on it. What's done is done. Best thing for ya to do now is to jus' keep movin' forward an' don't let it get ya down."

A smile slowly crept across her face. "Thanks, guys…"

Kneeling down, she carefully pried off the wall panel with her little spanner, reached inside, and withdrew the bomb from its hiding place. While Tifa replaced the panel, Jessie handed me the bomb, and I put it into a small bag hanging from the side of my belt. As I started to follow Tifa and Barret down the tunnel leading to the reactor entrance, Jessie touched my arm. "Can I talk to you for a minute, Cloud?"

"Sure, Jess," I looked at the others. "Go on ahead, guys. I'll catch up in a minute."

Barret nodded. "Don't be long, then. An' you be careful, Jessie. Get yourself home in one piece."

"I will, don't worry," she assured him.

"We'll be waiting for you just up ahead, Cloud," Tifa added.

With a parting wave, they left, and then I was alone with Jessie. She didn't say anything at first but simply stood there in the middle of the room, the low ceiling not that far above her head. I thought of the time she and I had spent here yesterday, of how I had held her when she had broken down and how we had sat together in the quiet and the stillness of this place, just staying close to each other, for who knew how long. What was on her mind?

After a minute, Jessie walked over and slid her arms around me. "I have a really bad feeling about this mission. I'm not sure why. It's just… something I feel. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "I feel it, too."

"Be careful, okay? I just… I don't want anything to happen to you."

I gave her a small grin. "I will, Jess, don't worry. I'll be fine. I was in SOLDIER, remember?"

She hugged me, the gentle pressure of her body against mine not at all unpleasant, and I found myself wishing that she wouldn't have to let go, that this moment could go on a while longer. But I knew it couldn't, and so did Jessie. There wasn't time, and we both had things we had no choice but to do.

As I started to let go, Jess leaned in and touched her lips to mine. It only lasted a second, maybe a little more, but it was as if I had just been hit by one of my own lightning spells, and I suddenly had to remember how to breathe as my heart slammed against my chest so hard and fast I thought my ribs would break.

"For luck," she whispered, pulling away.

With that, Jessie let go and hurried back toward the tunnel we had entered from. But just before she ducked inside, I called to her, an idea suddenly coming to mind. "Hey, Jess. After I get back, what do you say we take the Hardy out for a spin? No mission or anything. Nothing we have to get done. Just a ride."

Jessie gasped in delight. "I… I'd really like that, Cloud. That would be wonderful!"

"Then make sure she's ready for us."

"You bet!" she smiled. "Thank you. I'm really looking forward to it! I'll make you a better ID, too. I'll be back at the hideout in my research room workin' on it."

I nodded. "See you soon."

Jess disappeared down the ladder, beaming like a searchlight gone haywire, and I turned and headed in the direction Barret and Tifa had gone, my mouth still tingling from Jessie's kiss. I found the others just a few moments later, kneeling next to another ladder that descended out of sight into a deeper part of the plate's interior. They both looked up at me as I approached, relief etched into their faces. I was glad to see that they were okay, too.

"There ya are," Barret grunted. "Everythin' alright?"

"Yeah. She's just a little worried about the mission, that's all. So am I, to tell the truth."

He sighed and nodded. "I know. Bothers me, too. But we jus' gotta keep on goin' an' see where it leads. Ain't no helpin' it. Anyway, let's get movin'. Biggs is waitin' for us at the reactor entrance."

Without another word, Barret started climbing carefully down the ladder. Tifa glanced at me for a moment, as worried about all this as we were, and then followed him. I brought up the rear, and soon we found ourselves on an elevated catwalk bound by metal railings.

We hurried along the catwalk as it turned sharply to the right, and at the far end, near a ladder leading up into another opening, Biggs lay amidst a small group of wrecked roboguards, their bodies riddled with bullet holes from the twin handguns he held. Biggs was still struggling to get up as we ran to him.

"Biggs!" Barret called. "You okay?"

He laughed and gave us a crooked grin as Barret and I helped him to his feet. "Yeah, I'll be alright, don't worry. These guys here just snuck outta the reactor and caught me from behind. I got 'em, though, as you can see. Not much left of 'em now, eh?"

Tifa concentrated for just a moment, and then the Restore materia set into her glove glowed a bright green as she cast a Cure spell on him. Sparkles of emerald light enveloped his body, and the minor burns and scratches on his face and arms faded and disappeared, leaving nothing behind of the injuries he had sustained. While Biggs holstered his guns and looked down at himself to check out his healed arms, Tifa lowered her hand and smiled. "How's that?"

"Feels good, Tifa. Thanks!"

"No problem. Everything ready to go?"

In answer, he reached inside his pocket and pulled out a handful of small vials with dark, swirling liquid inside. "Yeah. I peeked inside the reactor for a minute when I first got here. They got some noxious stuff in there, like we thought, so I bought some antidotes before we left the slums. Figured they might come in handy. Here, you guys should each take some, just in case."

He handed each of us a few of the antidotes as he continued. "The reactor's laid out in exactly the same way as Reactor 1, so you shouldn't have any trouble getting through it. We're gonna pull out now, but we'll meet you all back at the hideout. We're countin' on you guys to blow up the reactor! Don't let us down!"

"We gonna go torch this sucker, dontcha worry 'bout that!" Barret swore, hefting his gun-arm. "You jus' get yerself back home an' wait for the fireworks ta start!"

I slipped the bundle of antidotes into my bag and glanced at Biggs. "Watch your back."

Biggs laughed, clapping his hand on my shoulder. "You too, Cloud! Blow this place sky high!"

I nodded, and then he was gone, hurrying back the way we'd come. I went over to the ladder leading into the reactor and glanced up at the opening for a moment and the pale bluish glow coming from it as Tifa and Barret joined me on either side.

What was in there waiting for us? If I had known then what I know now, I never would have gone forward. But if I hadn't, things may have turned out quite differently than they did. And you and I wouldn't be here now. So maybe I would have gone in, after all.

What ultimately came of this mission, and what it led to—not just immediately, but the entire chain of events that it set into motion—was what eventually started us on our long journey. And that journey led to us facing the crisis that this whole story is about.

We might never have fought those battles or have found each other and come together the way we did if we had never made the journey in the first place, if I hadn't taken those steps and gone inside the reactor. So now, thinking about all that, I realize that I still would have entered. It was the place where everything really began. Every quest has a place where it starts. Ours was here.

Grabbing the ladder, I climbed up and went inside, Tifa and Barret close behind me.


	7. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - SIX

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**SIX**

The inside of Reactor 5 was, as Biggs had told us, exactly the same as Reactor 1 except for that strange bluish glow that hung in the air all around us. The lights in this one must have been set differently than in the other reactor. In any case, we emerged onto a small platform at the top of the large pipe that ran down at an angle to the floor.

Above us and to our right, a high square platform rose up into the dimness with its long, narrow stairways wrapping around it. There was nothing for it but to slide all the way to the bottom of the pipe, so I sat down onto the smooth, curving metal and did so, using both hands to stay balanced as Tifa and Barret followed behind me.

After descending for about a minute or two, we finally reached the floor, where several smaller pipes curved up just a short distance ahead of the larger one and into the nearby wall ahead of us and to our right. The only sounds we could hear were our breathing and the steady hum of the reactor's machinery.

"That was actually kinda fun!" Tifa laughed as she stood up.

Barret shrugged. "One time's enough for me. Thought I was gonna fall offa that damn thing."

Tifa and I shared an amused glance as we walked further inside the reactor while Barret followed behind us, but before I could say a word, I was suddenly seized by a harsh fit of coughing, and I was barely able to keep from choking on the mako fumes. They were much worse here than inside Reactor 1. The back of my throat started itching, and I had to blink several times as my eyes started burning like a lit match. Biggs hadn't been kidding when he'd told us this place was noxious. A look at the others told me they were experiencing the same thing.

Hopefully the upper levels weren't this bad, but we had to go down first before we could head up topside, so we didn't have any choice but to push through it as best we could. Trying not to breathe too deeply, I led the others forward.

We had only gone a few steps, though, when a new sound filled the air. The tromping of metallic feet shambling in our direction. I reached back over my shoulder and drew Buster while Tifa brought up her fists and Barret whipped up his gun-arm.

From around the corner to our right trundled two green and black roboguards with a pair of curved, pipelike horns set upon either side of their heads, and with them was a vicious hound, its short fur the color of blood, its claws as sharp as my shaving razors, and its teeth like Tifa's best kitchen knives. It growled, and the two Smoggers lurched forward, belching mako fumes that swirled thickly around them.

The Blood Taste, as those fiendish red dog-like things were called, sprang at me, but I dove to the right before it could tear out my throat. The tentacle sprouting up from the middle of its back lashed out at me just as it landed, slashing across my forearm and drawing a thin line of blood. I ignored the stinging pain and sliced at the beast with a vicious backhand slash that left a deep gouge in its side as Barret and Tifa took on the Smoggers. There was a sudden flash of green light from the side of Barret's gun-arm, and a second later, one of the droids blew apart in a bright orange blast of flame.

"Damn!" he grinned. "I'm likin' that!"

I didn't have time to respond, though, as the hound snapped at me again and swiped with its claws. I spun out of the way and sliced Buster just above its back, severing the tentacle before it could reach me again. The thing snarled in pain and renewed its assault while Barret sprayed the other Smogger with lead and Tifa laid into it with a string of quick punches and a low, sweeping kick that dropped it to the floor. But as it did, it spewed out a cloud of toxic fumes that enveloped Tifa before she could get away. I heard her coughing, but it was a minute or so before I could get to her, as I had to fend off that hound. It jumped at me again, but this time I whirled around, planted both feet in place, and brought my sword up to meet it.

The beast landed right on Buster's wide blade, impaling itself with a single startled yelp.

I kicked the body off, then hurried to Tifa while Barret took down the Smogger, which had stood back up only to be shredded by a hail of bullets and a bright blast of fire. Tifa was crouched over, still coughing as the fumes hovering around her began to dissipate, and her skin had taken on a slight greenish cast that I didn't like. I helped her get up and led her away from that noxious mist, and when we were finally clear of it, I took out one of the antidotes Biggs had given us.

"Here, Tif," I handed it to her. "Drink this, it'll help."

She did so, her nose wrinkling at the bitter taste even as she smiled gratefully at me, and almost immediately the color returned to her face and her breathing grew easier as she stood up straight again. "Thanks, Cloud. That was some nasty stuff back there."

"I'll bet. You might want to thank Biggs, too, when we get back."

"Oh I will, believe me," she laughed.

After Tifa used one of her Cure spells to heal my injuries, I led her and Barret to the doorway at the base of the stairs. My arm was feeling better already, the pain now just a faint thing I could easily ignore. We crossed the narrow ledge and climbed down through the maze of pipes and girders until we stood on a wide catwalk like the one from the first reactor. At the far end of it was the central core with its pipes and dials and metal beams. As we went to it, Barret waited just behind me while Tifa and I hurried forward to set the bomb.

I was just reaching inside the bag hanging from my belt to take the bomb when pain hit me again and I collapsed, grabbing my temples as I had back in Reactor 1. Only this time, there was no voice, and when I looked up again, everything was different but also hauntingly familiar. It was another reactor, one I recognized all too well. The reactor at Mt. Nibel. It had been one of the first, and its design was an older one, with chains among the pipes and a sea of glowing mako far below. Ahead of me was a doorway, the yellowish-orange glow from the room beyond it coloring the stone walls in hues of fire.

And in front of the doorway was Tifa.

Not Tifa as she had been in Reactor 5, twenty years old and only a year younger than I was. But instead, it was Tifa as a teenager, with the cowboy boots, leather vest, and wide-brimmed hat that I remembered. She was kneeling down next to the body of her father, crying bitterly as she held him. A slender, slightly curved blade of polished, flawless steel lay nearby, and an old, familiar rage surged through me when I saw it. I knew exactly whose it was. It was unique. It was unmistakable.

It was Sephiroth's.

"Dad…" Tifa sobbed, tears streaming unchecked down her cheeks. "Did Sephiroth do this to you? Did he? Sephiroth… SOLDIER… mako reactors… Shinra… I hate them all!"

Then the strange and terrible vision was gone as suddenly as it had appeared, and so was the pain. I found myself back in Reactor 5 again, the pale blue glow in the air softly illuminating Tifa's worried face and Barret's disapproving frown. What was going on? Back then, I'd had no idea, and I wondered if I was starting to lose my mind. But what I had seen had been real, a glimpse of one of the darkest chapters of my past. Why was it coming back now? What did it mean?

Barret glared at me. "Damn, man! Get a hold of yourself!"

"Are you alright?" Tifa asked.

"Tifa…" I began, wondering how I was going to explain this. Then I remembered what we were here for and shook my head instead. "No, forget it. Come on, we've gotta hurry!"

Straightening up, I went over to the reactor core and put the bomb in place, setting the timer for 20:00 just as I had back in Reactor 1. As I finished and stepped away, Barret and I both looked up almost at once, our eyes scanning the shadows all around us as we remembered all too well that nasty surprise attack from the Guard Scorpion. But there was nothing. No monstrous guardian sprang at us, and no alarms shrieked to life as we hurried back the way we had come. I didn't know whether to be relieved or disturbed, and I didn't need to look at Barret to know he was thinking the same thing.

We climbed up through the maze of pipes and girders and into the main chamber and then raced up the long ladders until we reached the platform at the top. No other roboguards or fiendish beasts showed up to fight us, and while that should have been reassuring, I found myself feeling uneasy instead.

Only one encounter so far, yet I thought we'd have seen at least one more battle by now, as we had in the first reactor. I didn't like it, and as we stepped inside the elevator and it rose steadily upward, I found that my nerves were on edge, and my warrior's instincts told me to be wary. The others looked just as tense as I felt.

Entering the top level, we hurried inside the control room, where a rectangular computer console stretched out along one side of the eight-sided chamber. I moved to the other side of the console while Tifa and Barret took positions across from me. We each stood in front of a wide, flat activation panel, and at the moment they all sat dark and dead. But then, Barret pressed a few buttons on his side of the console, inputting the access code that Jessie had given him earlier, and the panels soon lit up, whirring to life with a steady hum. We each glanced at one another and put our hands over the panels.

"Remember," Tifa reminded us, "Jessie told us we have to hit all the buttons at once."

I nodded, and so did Barret. Holding up one fist while keeping my other hand over the panel, I unfolded my fingers one by one in a silent countdown, and when all five were up, we all hit our respective buttons at the same time. The console beeped at once in response, and then we heard the doors in the other room sliding open. Not wasting any time, we raced out of the control room and through the open doors until we finally reached the entry corridor. We were almost out of here, but my uneasiness was even stronger, if anything.

Reaching over my shoulder for Buster, I led the others outside.

* * *

As we hurried across the narrow T-shaped bridge, mist and mako fumes swirling beneath us, Barret raced past Cloud to take the lead. He pointed to the left, where an open gateway stood open and waiting for us at that end of the bridge's short arm. We turned, following him, and we were about to reach it when a squad of Shinra solders marched out of it, their weapons ready. My eyes widened as we skidded to a halt, my heart racing in sudden fear.

"Shinra soldiers?" Barret gaped. 'Shit! What the hell's goin' on?"

Whirling around, we ran for the far end of the bridge and another open exit. But before we got very far, more Shinra solders ran out onto the T-bridge from this direction as well and brought up their guns. My heart hammered within my chest. We had no way out. Was this it? We were skilled fighters, but even we would have a hard time fighting odds like this. And then suddenly I knew. I saw it all with sickening clarity. I understood now why the mission had gone so easily with only a single battle to show for it, why Shinra had seemed to know about everything we had planned to do here.

Cloud voiced my unspoken thought. "A trap…"

They must have been here the whole time, waiting for us, knowing we would have to come this way sooner or later. Then there were more footsteps behind us, and we turned to look back the way we had come. Walking casually from out of the reactor entrance was the last person I had ever expected to see, the last person I ever thought would be here. My blood froze in my veins as I looked at him, at his dark red suit and black tie, at his blond hair and moustache that were shot through with streaks of gray. At the pale blue eyes that held all the warmth of a block of ice and all the humanity of a snake.

"Pres… President Shinra?" Barret stammered, his eyes as wide and unbelieving as mine were.

I took a step back, fear clutching my heart with deadly claws. "Why is the President here?"

President Shinra fixed his chilly eyes on us, and I understood then how a mouse feels when it's cornered by a hungry cat. "Hmm… So you all must be… What was it?"

"AVALANCHE!" Barret snarled. "And don't ya forget it! So you're President Shinra, huh?"

Cloud strode toward him onto the longer arm of the T-bridge. "It's been a long time, sir."

Had they met before? Cloud had never mentioned anything about it, but he had never talked much about his years in SOLDIER, either. I guessed it was possible, but still it surprised me. I found myself hoping that he might somehow use that to figure out a way for us all to escape this mess we had gotten ourselves into. And then I suddenly I thought of Biggs, Wedge, and Jess. Were they okay? Or had Shinra found them, too? I desperately hoped they had escaped safely.

"A long time?" President Shinra asked. "Oh… you. You're the one who left SOLDIER. I can tell you were exposed to mako from the glow in your eyes. Tell me, traitor… what was your name?"

"Cloud."

The president shrugged indifferently. "Forgive me for asking, but I you can't expect me to remember everyone's name. Unless, of course, you were to become another Sephiroth."

Cloud's eyes narrowed. "Sephiroth!?"

"Don't give a damn 'bout none of that!" Barret cut in. "This place's goin' up with a _bang_ soon! Serves y'all right!"

With a startled gasp, I suddenly remembered the bomb we had set. How much time was left? I wasn't sure I wanted to know, but I worried about it anyway. How were we going to get ourselves out of here before it went off? Both of the exits were blocked, and I knew that the soldiers wouldn't just let us leave quietly. The president had to have something else in mind for us, but what? Why didn't he just have his troops attack us and be done with it?

He shook his head. "And such a waste of good fireworks, just to get rid of vermin like you…"

"_Vermin?"_ Barret snarled, quivering with rage. "That's all you can say? _Vermin?_ You goddamn Shinra're the _vermin_ for killin' the planet! I guess that makes you King _Vermin!_ So shut up, jackass!"

"You filthy sewer rats did at least give us quite a good show, I'll give you that much."

I blinked. "What do you mean?"

Reaching into his jacket pocket, President Shinra pulled out a cigar and a polished silver lighter. With a flick of his wrist, he lit up the cigar and put it to his mouth, taking a puff on it before responding. "Did you really think we didn't know about your group's activities, young lady? Or that we weren't watching?"

"The security cameras," Cloud said. "You saw us the whole time."

_How could we have been so stupid!?_ I shook my head, not wanting to believe that we had overlooked something so obvious, but I couldn't deny the terrible truth of it. The president must have been sitting in the overseer's office, watching us on the monitors as we planted the bomb. And he must have had someone watching us back in Reactor 1 as well, or maybe they did it by remote. But it still didn't explain why they had let us go through with the bombings.

"Very good, former SOLDIER," the president nodded. "You see, in order to keep the people in line, we needed a scapegoat. The more you acted against us, the more they turned to us for protection."

Barret stared, his fury quickly draining as he suddenly understood. "You was… usin' us?"

"And you provided us quite a valuable service, I must say. With the mako starting to run out, people have been getting more restless lately. But thanks to your efforts, they'll trust Shinra more than ever when we rescue them from the ruthless terrorists attempting to destroy our fair city and its people."

"So that's why you've been making us out to be the villains," Cloud said. "You set us up."

President Shinra nodded. "Yes, you're quite correct. But now… you are beginning to bore me. I'm very busy, so if you'll excuse me, I have a dinner I must attend."

From just below the bridge, a small helicopter with the Shinra logo emblazoned on the sides rose up above us, its rotors whirring loudly as someone inside unfurled a rope ladder. The president didn't grab onto it right away, though. Instead, he nodded to each squad of soldiers and continued to stand where he was as they suddenly withdrew. I looked around, my instincts telling me to be alert, but at first nothing showed itself. Why had the soldiers left?

Barret brought up his gun-arm. "Dinner!? Don't gimme that! I ain't even started with you yet!"

"But," President Shinra continued, snapping his fingers, "I've made arrangements for a playmate for you all."

I staggered backwards as something huge suddenly floated toward us from the nearest exit. It was similar to the other roboguards we had fought earlier, but much larger, the blue steel of its body reflecting the light. It had no legs but instead hovered upon a round base from which its engines burned, and its massive fists were clenched. A large cannon of some kind rose up from its back and loomed over its head, and as it veered past us to hover near where the two arms of the T-bridge met, I saw a smaller gun facing in the other direction.

"The hell is that!?" Barret stammered, shifting his aim toward that metal monster.

"Meet Air Buster," the president explained. "A techno-soldier. Our Weapons Development Division created him. I'm sure all the data he'll extract from your dead bodies will be of great value to us in our future experiments."

I stared at him even as I brought up my fists. "Techno-soldier?"

"Now then, if you'll excuse me."

Before any of us could do anything, the president grabbed onto the rope ladder. Cloud sped after him, but he was too late as the helicopter flew away and was gone. In the meantime, That thing called Air Buster was advancing on myself and Barret. Could we beat it? We had to, and I knew that I couldn't afford to doubt myself now. But that fear was still there, and I fought to control it as that terrible machine surged toward us again and we had to back up once more.

"Cloud, help!" I called out to him. "_This _is from SOLDIER?"

He raced back toward us until he was on the far side of Air Buster, his sword drawn and his eyes fierce and determined. "No way! It's just a machine, Tifa. Don't let it get to you."

"I don't care what it is," Barret yelled. "I'm gonna bust him up!"

Cloud struck first, hitting its backside with several quick cuts from his sword, and when the machine turned around to face him, I rushed in and let loose with a flurry of punches at the same spot where he had just hit it, trying to further weaken its armor so that we could get at its internals and really do some serious damage. I heard Barret shooting at it with his gun-arm, but before I could attack again, Air Buster fired at me with its rear gun and I had to backflip away to avoid getting shot as bullets struck the ground where I'd been just a moment ago.

That metal monster faced us again, and I sped toward it, mixing up my punches with some quick kicks this time and finishing with a high roundhouse that smashed a huge dent in the side and made the thing's entire frame shudder. But it still held, rising up above us for a moment and firing a massive blast of energy before I could get away.

And then I was flying, Barret's startled shout loud in my ears as the attack hurled me past him to slam hard into the catwalk with a pained shriek. I tried to get up, but my arms and legs had turned into jelly, and then blackness and silence were everywhere as my eyes slid closed and I lost consciousness.

But then I was back in the world again only a minute later, Barret's worried face hovering over me as sparkles of magic swirled nearby. As he helped me get back to my feet, I saw the remains of feathers lying on the ground and smiled my thanks, very glad now that he had held onto that bit of phoenix down that he had found in Reactor 1. While Cloud struck Air Buster with some of his lightning magic and Barret turned around and opened fire on it again, I quickly cast a Cure spell to mend some of the wounds I'd gotten from the blast and prepared to return to the fight myself.

When Air Buster rotated to face Cloud yet again, I ran in and hit it with another salvo of punches and kicks while Barret kept the pressure on with a fiery blast from his assault gun that blew the techno-soldier's rear weapon off in a shower of sparks and smoke.

It spun around in an instant and rose up again, but this time when it unleashed that massive energy blast, I darted away before it could hit me, and the others managed to avoid it as well. As I prepared to attack again, I realized then that Air Buster seemed to be following some kind of preset battle program. Its actions were much too predictable, far too orderly to be something it was deciding on independently. And maybe we could use that to our advantage.

"Cloud!" I called to him. "This thing faces whoever hit it last! If we can hit it fast enough…"

He nodded. "Right, Tifa! We'll just have to hit it one after the other. Keep it so busy turning around it won't have any chance to hit us back. You got that, Barret?"

"Loud n' clear, Spike!" he replied. "Let's get to work!"

Cloud started us off, slashing at Air Buster with several quick, hard strokes, and when it spun around to retaliate, I went next, slamming it with my fists in the same spot I'd hit it before. The metal bent and split with the impact, exposing wiring and circuitry. After it faced me again, Cloud hit it with another shot of lightning from his materia and drank that ether we'd found earlier to keep his energy up.

Barret poured on another stream of bullets, and so it went, each of us attacking Air Buster one at a time but quickly enough that the mech was unable to respond before its programming forced it to turn around again. Before long, it shuddered when Cloud shocked it with still more lightning, blasting several panels off the sides, and when it tried to turn around again, there was nothing but a futile whine from its motors and it didn't move at all.

"It's stuck!" Cloud said. "Let's finish it!"

This time, we all hit it together, Cloud slicing with his sword while I let loose with a swift chain of punches and kicks followed by a leaping somersault that nearly swept off its head when my foot connected with its face. Barret kept on shooting as I raced back in to pound on it some more while Cloud leaped into the air and slammed his sword down in an overhead chop that split open Air Buster's shoulder. Sparks erupted from all over it as we continued to press the attack, and suddenly it just exploded in huge blast of billowing flame and blue sparks along with a portion of the bridge where it had been hovering.

The force of the explosion tossed Barret and I onto our backs, and as I looked up, I could only watch in horror as Cloud was thrown high into the air, spinning helplessly out of control and falling down toward the gap in the bridge. His left arm shot out, and he grabbed the bottom edge of a broken metal beam at the last moment, grabbing onto it with one outstretched hand. My heart pounding, I scrambled to him on my hands and knees, desperate to pull him to safety.

"Cloud!" I reached my arm toward him as far as I could. "Take my hand! Come on! Please!"

He stretched his left arm out toward me, his fingers barely grazing my fingertips, but it just wasn't enough, and his hand fell away. "I can't reach you, Tifa. I'm too far away."

I shook my head and looked at Barret. "Can't you do something!?"

"Not a damn thing," he sighed.

This… this couldn't be happening! It just couldn't! I was _n__o__t_ going to lose him! I laid down on my stomach and reached out toward Cloud again, wanting it to be enough, _willing_ it to be enough. He stretched his free hand out to me once again, but like before, it just wasn't enough. I still couldn't reach him. Tears slipped down my cheeks then as I looked at him hanging there over the mist and fumes and the long drop to the slums so far below us.

"Cloud!" I cried as I looked at him. "Please don't die! You can't die! There's still so much I want to tell you!"

His eyes met mine. "I know, Tifa…"

"Hey, you gonna be alright?" Barret asked him.

"You worry about yourselves! I'm okay, but take care of Tifa!"

_Oh, Cloud…_ I felt my heart flutter at his words. Even hanging there above the precipice the way he was, he was still thinking of me, looking out for me. I loved that about him. That and so many other things. But back then, I hadn't known how to say it, how to tell him all the things that were there in my heart. So I just kept everything bottled up inside, the tender feelings I had for him, even as I wanted more than anything to find a way to share them with him.

Barret grimaced. "Alright. Sorry 'bout all this."

"Stop talking like this is the end!" Cloud snapped, glaring at him. "I'm not dying today!"

Suddenly the entire reactor complex started rumbling, and I heard a series of faint explosions far beneath us. The bomb had gone off, and it wouldn't be long before this entire place went up. I still didn't want to leave Cloud, though.

In spite of his words, I was still terribly afraid for him. How could he possibly survive all this? Would I ever see him again? He seemed to sense the struggle I was going through, though, because when he spoke to me again, his voice was softer, his gaze never wavering as he looked at me with those wonderful blue eyes of his.

"You have to go, Tifa. It'll be alright, I promise. We'll meet again."

"Cloud…" I murmured.

Barret started pulling at me. "It's gonna blow! Let's go, Tifa!"

Just then, a tremor shook the area as flames blew out of the reactor entrance and the walls started to erupt all around us. I gasped as Cloud lost his grip on the metal bar. I reached out for him as he fell, but again he was too far away, and I could only watch helplessly as he plummeted down through the grayish fumes and out of sight.

By then, Barret was pulling frantically at my shoulder, and after I finally let him help me to stand up, we raced for the nearest exit. More explosions tore their way through the reactor, and I was just following Barret through the gateway when the rest of the bridge collapsed right behind us. Before we hurried out of the complex, I took one last look at where Cloud had fallen, reminding myself of his words to me. I had to be strong now, and as I took a deep breath, I felt that way, too. I would see him again, I was sure of it. I knew it in my heart. He was still alive. He had be. No longer hesitating, I turned and raced after Barret just as the reactor exploded behind us.


	8. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - SEVEN

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**SEVEN**

— _You alright? Can you hear me? —_

It was the voice from the first reactor, speaking to me again. All I knew was blackness. It was everywhere. What was going on? Was this a dream? I didn't know. It didn't seem like it, but I wasn't entirely awake, either. The last thing I remembered was falling, watching Reactor 5 go up in flames as I tumbled down through the mist and the mako fumes. Then the sounds of wood splintering and breaking beneath me, bursts of pain as I smashed through it and landed on something strangely soft before losing consciousness. And now that strange voice, calling to me here in the dark. I didn't know who it was, but it was no hallucination, either. I decided I might as well answer it.

_Yeah…_

— _Back then, you only scraped your knees… —_

_What do you mean by "back then"?_

Scraped knees? I didn't know what the voice was talking about. All I did know was that the pain was everywhere. It seemed like every part of me ached, and I wasn't entirely sure if I could move at all. The voice seemed to sense my thoughts, though, and I wondered once again who it belonged to. I didn't think I was going crazy, but I didn't really know what to make of it either.

— _What about now? Can you get up? —_

_Alright, I'll try._

I tried to concentrate, to focus my thoughts on what I was going to do. I decided to start small, and so with every bit of will I could muster, I willed my leg to move. It seemed to take forever, here in the dark as I was, but after a while, I felt myself starting to move a little. Then a little more. I was starting to get there, but I didn't want to go too fast, either. That might just end up making me hurt even worse than I already was, and I knew that wouldn't help. So I just contented myself with bending my knee a little bit for now.

"Oh! He moved!"

Who was that? Another voice, but this one was different. A waking voice. A woman's voice, by the sound of it. Who was she? This must be her place, wherever this was, although I couldn't see much of anything yet. Just the darkness everywhere, and I realized that it was because my eyes were closed. They were still heavy, though, and it was hard for me to open them. Maybe in a minute or so. I decided to work on my hand and go on from there. The voice seemed to agree with me.

— _Take it slow now. Little by little… —_

_I know._

Gathering my will, I thought about what I wanted to do next, and a moment later, I could feel myself flexing my fingers bit by bit. Then I moved my arm a little. It was getting a little easier now, but I still had to be careful. There was still pain everywhere. I could feel my strength starting to return, though, and I knew that it wouldn't be much longer. I was rising back toward wakefulness the way a scuba diver eventually returns to the surface.

"Hello? Hello?"

_Hey… who are you?_

But the voice didn't answer me. It was silent now, and I wondered when I would hear it again. I didn't doubt that I would, sooner or later. But who was it? It was a young voice, I realized now. A boy's voice, and oddly familiar. I almost knew that voice.

Its identity hung just out of my mental reach no matter how hard I tried to remember it. My mind remained stubbornly and infuriatingly blank, so I gave up for now and decided to concentrate on waking up instead. Slowly, I opened my eyes.

And saw _her._

* * *

"Where's Cloud!?"

Jess looked at us, her unbelieving eyes darting frantically back and forth between Barret and I while we stood with her inside the _Seventh Heaven._ We had gotten back not long ago, and while I was relieved that she and the guys had made it home without incident, I worried about what Shinra might do next. And I worried about Cloud. Where was he now? I was absolutely sure he was alive, but I knew that until I saw him for myself, I wouldn't be able to truly relax.

I opened my mouth, but for a moment, nothing came out. I wasn't sure how to answer her question, though. I knew well enough how she felt about him. It was easy enough for me to see it whenever she looked at him, how her eyes always seemed to linger on him now whenever he was around. She must have been that way ever since their first mission together yesterday, and even more so after their return from the Sector 4 plate last night. I knew I felt exactly the same about him, though, so I understood all too well what Jessie was going through. I was still trying to deal with it myself.

When Barret and I had walked up to her outside just a few minutes ago, she had been so busy polishing that rusty old motorcycle of hers, a contented smile on her face as she worked, that she hadn't even noticed us at first. After she had finally realized we were there, she had turned around to see us, but her smile had fallen off her face after she realized Cloud wasn't there with us. Worry and disbelief had quickly replaced it as Barret had motioned for her to follow us inside.

"He… he fell when Reactor 5 went up," Barret sighed. "Shinra was there waitin' for us."

Jess's face paled until it was almost white as Biggs and Wedge drew closer, their expressions just as tense and anxious as ours were. We told them what had happened during our disastrous mission, from the time we first entered the reactor to planting the bomb and Shinra's trap, the president's unexpected appearance, all he told us, our battle against Air Buster, and how its subsequent destruction and that of the reactor had caused Cloud to fall into the Sector 5 slums far below us. And when we finished, I found myself coming to a decision.

I looked at Barret. "I'm going after him, Barret. I have to find him."

"I know how you feel, Tifa. But Shinra's watchin' us right now. Best thing to do is to jus' lay low for now. He's strong, I can't deny that. He'll find a way to get back ta us."

"I can't just sit here and do nothing!" I argued.

Jessie nodded. "That's right, Barret! He might be in trouble! Let me go with you to look for him, Tifa, please. Cloud, he… he's always been there for me. I want to be there for him, too."

Although I wasn't sure how comfortable I was with the way Jess felt about him, considering my own feelings, I couldn't deny she was right. We both wanted to find Cloud and help him if we could. And with two of us working together, we might have better luck than if I went alone. I understood Barret's concerns, but I also couldn't sit here not knowing where Cloud was or what was happening to him. Neither could Jessie, I knew. I was just about to tell her she could come with me when Barret shook his head at both of us.

"No!" he ordered. And it _was_ an order, there was no doubt about it. "It's too dangerous!"

"_What!?"_ Jessie and I said at the same time.

He folded his arms in front of him. "You heard me! We can't jus' go out there an—"

"Daddy!" Marlene's voice trembled and cut him off as she suddenly burst through the doors and ran inside. "There's a creepy man hanging around outside! He's asking everyone about you. He tried to talk to me too, but I didn't say anything. He… he scared me…"

Barret and I shared a worried glance as he held Marlene close with one muscled arm. There was no doubt that Shinra was involved in this somehow, but what was going on? I shivered, remembering how much they already knew about us and afraid of what might be coming next. But we had to know. We had to find out somehow. Gently letting go of Marlene, Barret motioned for her to stay inside the bar while he turned and pushed his way through the saloon doors.

With dread and unease filling my heart, I followed him outside.

* * *

It was the girl in the pink dress.

For just a moment, I found myself at a loss for words, so stunned at seeing her again that rational thought seemed to have escaped me. She seemed even brighter here, in this place, than when I had first met her on the street corner in Sector 8 selling flowers, as though the light was coming from her and not from the thin rays of late afternoon sunshine peeking here and there through the broken roof from a few gaps in the upper plate far above us.

She looked at me, concern in her emerald eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I nodded, blinking as I sat up. "I think so. What happened? And where am I?"

"This is an old church in the Sector 5 slums," the girl replied. "You crashed through the roof and almost landed right on top of me. It gave me quite a scare."

I looked around, taking in my surroundings for the first time. Like the girl had said, this was a church, and it didn't look to have been used in a long time. Rows of wooden pews sat empty amidst a collection of round stone columns lining the sides of this strange yet peaceful place. Light shone in bright streamers through the stained glass windows that spanned the walls, and a few unlit chandeliers hung from the ceiling at regular intervals. Behind me, a small platform rose up a few steps from the floor, and on it stood a plain altar with a high stone arch rising over it from the back wall and a large pair of worn, faded tapestries hanging down on either side. At the front of the church, a set of wooden double doors stood slightly open.

I glanced up at the broken ceiling and the gaping hole above me. "I came crashing down?"

She nodded. "The roof and the flower bed must have broken your fall. You're lucky to be in one piece."

"Flower bed?" I blinked, looking around again. "Is this yours?"

Now I noticed the strangest part of this place. I was sitting in front of the dais with the altar, but where the floor should have been here in this area of the sanctuary, the old wooden planks had been pulled away and lay scattered nearby in a haphazard collection of splintered pieces. Within the bare, exposed earth grew a wide patch of flowers, rising up in a bright collection of white and yellow blossoms. I stared at them in genuine wonder as I realized that this was the first real color I had seen in this dank, dismal city.

"Sorry about that," I apologized, standing up.

The girl smiled. "That's alright. The flowers here are quite resilient because this is a sacred place. Everyone says that grass and flowers just won't grow in Midgar. But for some reason, they don't have any trouble blooming here."

I could see that, and I was impressed with what she had done here. That strange familiarity was there too, though I still couldn't explain it. But that feeling that I knew her somehow was undeniable even though I hadn't the slightest clue why or even what her name was. It was all so strange, but I found I couldn't dismiss what I knew and what I felt. The girl gazed around her at the empty church, slid her eyes closed for just a moment, and sighed contentedly. "I love it here."

"It's a nice place," I agreed.

She laughed, opening her eyes to look at me. "Yes, it is. Thank you. So… we meet again. Do you remember me?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I remember. You were selling flowers."

"Oh, that makes me so happy!" the girl exclaimed. "Thank you for buying one of my flowers."

"You're welcome," I smiled.

Returning it with one of her own, the girl knelt down to check her flowers. She looked like she was in her early twenties, around my own age or maybe a little bit older, and her long brown hair hung down past her waist in a thick braid still fastened with a pair of pink ribbons. But looking at her again, I noticed something else in there too, something I hadn't seen during the first time we met. She caught me staring before I could ask about it and stood up, brushing herself off as she looked at me with a knowing glint in her eyes.

"Say, do you have any materia?" she asked.

Was that it? Was that what it was? "Yeah, some. Nowadays, you can find materia anywhere."

"But mine is special," she chuckled, taking it out from her hair and showing it to me. "It's good for absolutely nothing."

I seriously doubted that. But at the same time, I had never seen any materia like hers before. It was very different, a milky white with just a hint of pale green swirling inside, and it was barely larger than a child's marble. Where had she gotten it? What did it do? I was curious in spite of myself. After a moment, the girl slipped it back into her hair, nestled in between the two ribbons at the top of her braid. I had the feeling she knew much more than she was letting on, but I didn't blame her for it. We had only just met, after all. So I figured I'd just play along and let it go for now. She would tell me more if she wanted to.

I shrugged. "Good for nothing? You just don't know how to use it."

"No, I do. It just doesn't do anything. But I feel safe just having it, though. It was my mother's," she said. She smiled again. "Say, I feel like talking. Do you feel up to it? After all, here we are meeting again."

"I don't mind," I told her.

She clasped her hands together. "Wait here, okay? I've got to check my flowers. It'll just be a minute."

Humming contentedly to herself, the girl in the pink dress walked around her little garden, bending over her and there to check her white and yellow blossoms, inspecting some petals and pruning stems with a tiny pair of shears she took from her pocket. It was then that I realized that the air was actually clean here. The fragrant aroma of the flowers was everywhere in this place, and I breathed it in deeply, glad to be free of that terrible mako smell at least for a little while.

"Oh!" the girl looked up at me. "Now that you mention it, we don't even know each other's names, do we? I'm Aerith, the flower girl. Nice to meet you! And you are…?"

"The name's Cloud. Me? I do a little bit of everything."

Aerith grinned. "Oh… a jack of all trades."

"Yeah, I do whatever's needed," I explained.

No sooner had the words left my mouth than she started laughing so hard it took her a moment to compose herself. I blinked. "What's so funny? What are you laughing at?"

"Sorry, I just…"

Aerith's voice trailed off as she looked past me toward the entrance of the church, and as I followed her gaze, I saw that we were no longer alone. A lean, lanky man stood a short distance inside the open double doors, his bright red hair pulled back into a thin ponytail underneath a pair of dark sunglasses perched on his forehead. His navy blue suit and white button-down shirt were both badly wrinkled and disheveled, and he watched us with a pair of chilly blue eyes that held all the warmth of a glacier. With him was a trio of helmeted Shinra soldiers, assault rifles in their hands but not yet pointed at us. What was going on? What did they want with Aerith?

She glanced at me and stepped a little closer. "Say, Cloud. Have you ever been a bodyguard? You _can_ do anything, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." I answered.

"Then get me out of here. Take me home."

I nodded, having already decided to do whatever I could to protect her. I didn't know why Shinra was so interested in a simple flower girl, but there had to be some reason. I was sure Aerith knew exactly what it was, but now wasn't the time to ask her about it. I couldn't resist a little joke, though, as I thought of how I wanted to respond to her request. I _was_ a mercenary, after all and didn't do anything for free. I flashed her a wry grin. "Sure, but it'll cost you…"

"Okay, then, let's see…" Aerith smirked impishly at me, her green eyes twinkling. "How about if I go out with you once?"

At first I wasn't sure if I had heard her right. I just stood there with my mouth hanging open, looking like a landed fish and wondering just what I had gotten myself into. I hadn't actually meant for Aerith to take me seriously, but I didn't see how I could refuse her. She had taken my little jibe and turned it right back at me, and I couldn't help but admire her quick wit and ingenuity. I genuinely liked her and I wanted to help her if I could, and if a date was the fee she wanted to offer me to be her bodyguard, then I figured that it was a small and pleasant enough price to pay to keep her safe.

I didn't have any idea how I was going to explain this to Jessie, but I still had every intention of taking her on that motorcycle ride that I'd promised her. As I thought of her, I remembered the kiss she had given me just before I had gone into Reactor 5. It had held the possibility of more, I had no doubt, and I felt my heartbeat quicken at the thought. I hoped Jessie was alright and had made it safely back to the slums along with Tifa and the others. But the only way for me to know for sure was to get back to Sector 7 myself. Before I could do that, though, I had to help Aerith and see her home.

"You've got yourself a deal," I told her.

* * *

Barret slammed the man against the side of the wall. "Alright, start talkin', punk!"

He was definitely creepy, just as Marlene had told us. Tousled black hair framed a pale, narrow face, and a pair of dark sunglasses sat above his small, beady gray eyes. His outfit—a green silk shirt, black slacks, and a polished brown leather belt with a solid gold buckle—was much too expensive for the slums. And despite being pushed against the wall by Barret's massive fist, he leered at Jessie and I with a lewd grin. "Hiya, ladies. Lookin' for a good time?"

"Shut up, you friggin' shitstain!" Barret snarled and brought up his gun-arm. "You gimme some answers now an' leave them girls alone, or the only way you'll be gettin' outta here is fulla holes!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" the seedy man's eyes widened. "No need for that. I-I'll talk!"

Barret didn't budge. "So talk. Why are you askin' everyone all 'bout me? Who are ya an' who sent ya?"

"The name's Scotch. My boss sent me to find out where you were and where your base was. I dunno why. Just said he had his orders. He wouldn't tell me whose they were, so don't bother askin' me!"

"An' who's your boss?" Barret demanded.

Scotch gulped and swallowed hard, his face suddenly sweaty. "I-It's the Don. Don Corneo of Wall Market!"

My face paled. What did that vicious crime lord want with Barret? Corneo held Sector 6 and Wall Market in an iron grip with his lackeys everywhere enforcing his will. Everyone in that part of the slums lived in constant fear of him, especially the women. His lust for them was as well known as his cruelty and his fondness for strange, monstrous pets. Was he trying to expand his influence here to Sector 7? I shuddered at the thought but couldn't quite believe it.

Barret slammed him against the wall again. "Anythin' else?"

"Yeah," Scotch answered. "The Don said the heat's comin' for ya, all of ya. Whatever that means."

Jessie and I shared an uneasy glance as Barret tightened his grip on Scotch. What was really going on here? Why would a man as powerful as Corneo act on orders for someone else? Who in this city could have that kind of power over him? An ugly suspicion began growing in my mind, but I had no way to be sure my instincts were right. I wasn't sure that I _wanted_ them to be right, to be honest. It was just too frightening to think about if they were.

With a disgusted sigh, Barret shoved Scotch away. "Get your sorry ass outta here!"

"It's too bad I didn't get to play with that little daughter of yours," Scotch snickered. "She's real pretty, and I know how to get girls to open up to me. She'd have told me all about ya if she hadn't ru—"

Before he get in another word, he was flying into the mud as Barret punched him right in the face, his good hand clenched so tightly into a fist that I thought his nails would cut into his palm. Scotch staggered to his knees, touching a hand to his bleeding mouth, but before he could get to his feet, I ran toward him, my eyes blazing and my blood boiling like lava in my veins, and slammed my knee into his gut. As he howled and doubled over, I grabbed him by the front of his shirt, spun around, and threw him back into the mud. Then I seized his nose between two of my fingers and started to twist it just a little.

He bellowed, and I knelt next to him, looking him right in the eye as I spoke. "Listen up, you sick, twisted son of a bitch. You stay the hell away from her! And don't come back. Or you'll have a pretzel between your legs. Got it?"

I twisted once more, and he nodded frantically, getting the picture at last. As I finally let him go, he got up and stumbled away, a stream of bullets stinging the ground behind his feet as Barret drove him off. For moment I just stood there, staring after him as the rage swirled within me like some hellish vortex. When Scotch was gone, Barret lowered his arm, and I finally began to relax and calm down a little. Marlene came dashing outside, and as soon as she did, I swept her into my arms and hugged her tight. She always seemed to know just when we needed her, and I loved that about her.

"Is the bad man gone now, Tifa?" she asked, looking up at me.

I smiled, ruffling her hair. "Yeah, sweetie, he's gone. We scared him away. He won't bother us again."

Although Marlene's presence comforted me as much as mine did her, I couldn't dismiss the sense of unease that still lingered within me. I had to find out what was going on, and much as I despised the idea of getting anywhere near that crime lord Corneo and his thugs, I knew it was the only way to discover the truth. And there was only one way to get close enough to the man to make him talk and give me the answers I so desperately needed.

I had to go to Wall Market and be his girl for the night.


	9. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - EIGHT

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**EIGHT**

While Aerith waited a short distance behind me, I approached the man in the blue suit, retrieving Buster from where it lay on the floor as I did. I was glad I hadn't lost it in the fall from Reactor 5. I must have dropped it when I landed here, and it hadn't even occurred to me until now to even think about it. Meeting Aerith once again had completely captured my attention and had driven almost everything else from my mind. But we had company, and unpleasant at that, so I focused on the task at hand and put any and all thoughts of Jessie, Tifa, Barret, and the others aside for the time being.

"I don't know you are, but…" I said. Did I know this guy? At first I wasn't sure, but then after shaking off a few mental cobwebs, I realized that I did. "Oh, yeah… I do know you. That uniform…"

One of the soldiers laughed and snickered at Aerith. "Hey, sis, this one's a little weird."

My hand flew to Buster's hilt. "Shut up! Shinra dog!"

"Reno! Want him taken out?"

The soldier raised his rifle as I tightened my grip on Buster, but the red-haired man named Reno didn't respond right away. He just looked at us, his gaze darting back and forth between myself and Aerith. What was he waiting for? The other soldiers glanced at each other nervously but didn't say anything. I was prepared for a fight if that was what I had to do get Aerith out of here, but Reno seemed a bit less certain, at least for the moment.

He shrugged. "I haven't decided yet."

"Don't fight here!" Aerith ordered, and I realized she was talking to both of us. "You'll ruin the flowers!"

Taking her cue, I hurried after her as she raced toward the back of the church carrying a slender mythril staff in her hands. She motioned to a small doorway off to the left, and I followed her through it to what must have once been the bell tower. But now it was just a ruin, with the rusting carcass of an ancient test rocket lying nose downward from the broken roof all the way to the floor. A few sets of wooden stairs wound their way to the very top of the room, with several wooden ledges set at different heights set along the walls. Light shone through stained glass windows in here, too.

Not wasting a minute, we started climbing up the stairs. I took the lead while Aerith followed a few steps behind me. When we had nearly reached the top, we stopped for a moment to look ahead of us at a large gap in the ledge where the rocket had crashed through. It must've been at least ten or twelve feet across, and just past the far end, a ladder rose up to a set of thick wooden beams suspended from the ceiling and the gaping hole through which the old rocket had once entered a long time ago. Maybe we could get out that way.

But then Reno and his thugs raced into the room. He pointed up at us. "There they are! Over there!"

"Cloud, they're coming!" Aerith exclaimed, stepping closer to me.

I glanced down at our pursuers as they brought up their their guns. "I know. Looks like they aren't going to let us go."

"What should we do?" she asked.

"Well, we can't let them catch us, can we?" I said. "There's only one thing left to do."

Backing up a few steps, I ran and jumped over the gap, then turned and motioned for Aerith to follow me. She swallowed and approached the edge, peered over it for a moment, then backed up again in a hurry and shook her head. "I don't think I can make it…"

"Alright," I told her. "I'll hold them off."

Aerith held her slender staff tighter and nodded. "Right. Make sure they don't get through!"

I was just getting ready to jump back across the gap and make my way back down to where Reno and his goons were standing when they suddenly opened fire at us. The ledge beneath Aerith's feet cracked and fell apart, and she went tumbling down the side of the old rocket with a startled shriek. Aerith landed on the floor, flat on her stomach, and for a moment she just lay there, panting for breath. Then she stood up and brushed herself off. Aerith was about to hurry back upstairs to where I was when Reno shouted at his thugs. "The Ancient is getting away! Get her, you idiots! Get her!"

"Cloud, help!" Aerith called as the soldiers raced after her.

_D__amn!_ What was I supposed to do? Reno's cronies were closing in on her and fast, and they'd reach her long before I did. There had to be a way to rescue her, but how? Suddenly, something in the rafters above me caught my eye, and a small grin slowly spread across my face as an idea sprang to mind. I raced up the ladder and stepped carefully across the thick wooden beams until I stood alongside one of the four barrels I had seen just a moment ago.

When the first of the soldiers was right where I wanted him to be, I pushed the barrel over. It fell squarely on top of him, knocking him out cold as Aerith ran up the stairs and flashed me a grateful smile. I raced over to the next barrel, and when another of the troops got too close to her, I sent it plummeting down on him, flattening him where he stood. Only one more left. Hurrying over to the third barrel, I waited until the last of Reno's soldiers finally caught up to Aerith before letting it loose. It smashed right into him and sent him sprawling back down the stairs in a tangled, untidy heap.

I hurried back down the ladder to meet Aerith, and this time when she returned to the gap in the ledge, she took a breath, gathered up her courage, and jumped across. When she landed upon the other side, she stumbled as her foot struck the edge and lost her balance, but I caught her before she could fall down again. Aerith threw her arms around me to steady herself, and for just a moment, time seemed almost to stop. I held her there, suddenly realizing just how close she was to me, and for a moment, I forgot about our predicament. Aerith's green eyes held me fast, and I wasn't actually sure if I wanted them to let me go.

"Thanks, Cloud…" Aerith breathed.

I nodded and let go of her as we headed up the ladder and into the rafters. From there, we jumped out through the hole in the roof and sat there for a moment to catch our breath.

Far beneath us, Reno glared up in our direction before sighing and returning his annoyed gaze to his comatose troops. They wouldn't stay out much longer, but I doubted they'd give us any more trouble, either. Aerith and I would be gone long before that was even an issue, anyway. Shinra wasn't going to get their hands on her as long as I was around. I was her bodyguard, after all.

She laughed as she watched them. "They're looking for me again."

"You mean it's not the first time they've been after you?" I glanced at her. Somehow, I wasn't surprised.

She shook her head. "No. They've come for me before."

"They're the Turks," I said. When she glanced at me in puzzlement, I went ahead and explained it to her. "The Turks are from Shinra. They scout for possible candidates for SOLDIER."

"This violently? I thought they were kidnapping someone."

I shrugged. "They're also involved in a lot of dirty stuff on the side. Spying, murder… you know."

"They look like it," she agreed.

Shinra's infamous dirty trick squad, the Turks were the company's most feared and deadly enforcers. Although they were relatively few in number, they had considerable power in the city and answered only to Shinra's top executives. They were utterly ruthless, coldly professional, and didn't hesitate to threaten or kill anyone who got in their way. That they were after Aerith, a simple flower girl from the slums, didn't make any sense. And why had Reno called her an Ancient?

"But why are they after you?" I prodded her gently. "There must be a reason, right?"

She laughed, shaking her head. "No, not really. I think they believe I have what it takes to be in SOLDIER!"

Once again, I was certain she knew a lot more than she was saying, but I wasn't going to press her about it, either. I knew she would tell me when she was ready if she wanted to. So I just grinned instead. "Maybe you do. You want to join?"

"I don't know. But I don't want to get caught by _those_ people!"

"Then let's go!" I replied, standing up as best I could on the sloping roof of the church.

Reaching down, I took Aerith by the hand and helped her get back to her feet, and then we leaped off the roof and over to one of the junk piles scattered along the dirt path winding through the slums. Leaving Aerith's old church behind, we jumped carefully from one mountain of discarded trash to another as we made our way steadily through Sector 5 toward her house. I had the feeling that I was going to have my work cut out for me as her bodyguard. My mind filled with more questions than answers, I led Aerith further into the slums.

* * *

"Are you outta your goddamn mind!?"

I stood there in the bar, wishing I could have told him I wasn't, that this plan I'd thought up wasn't completely crazy. But that wouldn't have been true. I wasn't going to let him stop me, though. We had to know why Don Corneo had been looking for us and who had ordered him to do it, and we weren't going to find that out by just sitting here.

"I'm going, Barret," I told him. "I have to find out what's going on."

He frowned. "I get that, Tifa, but the man's a maggot, an' he's damn dangerous, too. You'd be better to jus' leave him alone an' look for some other way to find out what he's up to."

I narrowed my eyes as I put my hands on my hips. "I'm dangerous too, remember? I'll make him talk."

"Yeah, I suppose you could. But what about Cloud? You was all set to go lookin' for him earlier."

I had been so determined to find him, but that was before that sick bastard Scotch had shown up asking questions about us. I knew Cloud better than anyone, and while he could certainly come off as aloof and uncaring at times, beneath that cool facade of his was a good man who would do anything to protect those around him no matter what. And if there _was_ something sinister being planned for us, to hurt us or maybe the people around us, I knew Cloud would want me to find out what it was and stop it if I could before running off to look for him.

"Cloud will find a way to get back to us," I told Barret. "You said so yourself, remember?"

He nodded. "Yeah. You sure you know what you're doin'?"

I had finished most of my preparations, and the carriage would be here in a few hours to pick me up. It would be dark then, and that was when places like Wall Market were most active. So that was when I had decided to sneak into the Don's place and find out what was going on. I just hoped that I could find a way out afterward. My plan, I admit, was a little sketchy about that part. But it was all I had. A small sliver of fear worked its way through me, but I forced it down.

"I hope so, Barret," I murmured, shivering. "I hope so."

* * *

I slowed down when I heard Aerith panting behind me and trying to keep up with the brisk pace I was setting. We had traveled far from her church by now, but I wanted to put as much distance between us and Reno as possible. He and his thugs had probably left, but I wasn't going to take any chances. My eyes roamed across every corner and shadow as we made our way steadily from one junk heap to another, but nothing showed itself. I didn't relax, though. I wouldn't until I had seen Aerith safely home.

"Wait!" she called. "Wait, I said! Slow… down… Don't leave me…"

Coming to a stop, I paused and looked back as she slowly jumped from one pile of scrap to the next until finally she stood next to me, panting as she caught her breath. As for me, I wasn't even winded, but then again, I'd had military training. Maybe I could go a little slower, I supposed, but I still couldn't resist teasing her.

"Funny…" I said. "I thought you were cut out to be in SOLDIER."

She smirked and shook her head. "Oh! You're terrible!"

We laughed together then for a moment, and it felt good to do it. More than that, it felt _right,_ and so did she, although I hadn't a clue as to why. But we seemed to just click somehow, like we had known each other a lot longer than we had. It baffled me, but I didn't mind. As our laughter faded away, our eyes met, and I found I couldn't look away from her warm, emerald gaze. I didn't want to, either. Just as when I had caught her in the church, they seemed to hold me.

"Hey, Cloud…" Aerith asked. "Were you… ever in SOLDIER?"

I nodded. "I used to be. How did you guess?"

"Your eyes. They have a strange glow…"

"That's what marks those who've been infused with mako," I told her. That glow had become such a part of me that I barely even gave it any thought anymore. "It's part of being in SOLDIER. But how did you know about that?"

She shrugged. "Oh, nothing…"

"Nothing?" I raised an eyebrow. Somehow I couldn't quite bring myself to believe it.

"Right, nothing!" Aerith insisted. "Come on, let's go! Bodyguard!"

She hurried away again before I could say anything else, jumping to another pile of discarded junk, and I followed after her. Before long, we found a way back down to the ground. Glancing in both directions along the muddy path for a minute, Aerith took a moment to get her bearings, and then she motioned for me to follow her down the narrow strip of dirt that passed for a road here. "My house is this way. Hurry before they find us."

We ran further into the slums until we came to a small cluster of shacks and shanties amidst the piles of junk and debris that constantly fell down from the plate. A few shops and some homes were scattered around the area, and nearby was an immense pipe lying on its side. It was actually large enough for a person to walk inside, and a small sign in barely legible handwriting was posted next to it. I stepped closer as Aerith examined the sign.

"This guy are sick…" she read. "Wait a minute… that's not right."

I nodded. "No kidding. Any idea what happened?"

"I heard a man passed out nearby yesterday. I guess someone must have helped him get here."

We went inside the pipe, and just as the sign had indicated, a man was inside. He sat on the edge of a fraying old mat in what must have been his home. It was a simple place, with only a few scattered items that were his meager belongings, but here in the slums, it was as much a home as anyone could hope for. While on the plate, the people there lived in luxury and had everything they needed, either not knowing or not caring about the conditions down here.

The man looked healthy enough, but the expression upon his face was far away, distant, and his eyes were wide and glassy, looking past us at something only he could see. Incoherent murmurs were all that he said, over and over. What could have caused this? What was wrong with him? It baffled me. He was practically catatonic.

"This is the one," Aerith whispered. "Won't you help him?

I shook my head, utterly mystified. What did she expect me to do? "Listen, I'm no doctor. I'm sorry, Aerith."

"It's alright. I just wish we could help…"

I knew how she felt, and I would have liked to have been able to do something for him, too. But I couldn't, and I knew that neither could she. As I looked at him again, I noticed something about his eyes that I had missed before. They were glowing, the same as mine. Had he been in SOLDIER? I didn't see any other way to explain it. But how had he ended up like this? I sighed, turned to leave, but then Aerith touched my arm and I looked back at her.

"What is it?" I asked.

She showed me the back of his left hand. "He has a tattoo. Do you see it? I think it's the number 2."

I bent closer, nodding when I saw it. A small numeral had been imprinted onto his skin in black in a stark, almost sterile type. It was, as Aerith had said, the number 2. But what did it mean? I supposed that the man himself might have had it done, but I found I couldn't accept that explanation so easily. I wasn't entirely sure why, only that my instincts told me there was more to it and that he most likely hadn't gotten that mark voluntarily. It was a mystery, but one we couldn't do anything about. So we finally left, and I followed Aerith as she made her way through the little slum village.

Passing between two mounds of discarded bits of scrap metal and junk, we left the settlement behind and came to what could only have been Aerith's house. And a house it definitely was, the first one I had seen down here. It was a small, two-story structure with a red shingled roof and clean stone walls. A brown picket fence surrounded the small yard, and a large garden filled with dozens of yellow flowers lay just past the house on a pair of round platforms. Light shone down upon us from gaps in the plate here and there, giving the whole place a warm, welcoming feel.

"You like it?" Aerith asked as we walked up to the front door.

I nodded. "Yeah. Looks like you've been busy."

She laughed. "You mean the flowers? I suppose I have, haven't I? I grow them over in the church, then I bring some back here and replant them. They seem to like it here."

Inside, the house was small but very cozy. A six-sided family room dominated the first floor, and to the right was an alcove with a modest kitchen. A set of wooden stairs led up to the second floor, and a round table covered in a white cloth sat in the middle of the room on a six-sided rug. Pots of flowers sat on the table and on various shelves along the wall, and the patterned carpet on the floor showed bright patterns of red and orange petals.

"I'm home, Mom," Aerith said, leaning her staff against the wall.

From the kitchen emerged a middle-aged woman in a dark green dress and a white apron. Her brown hair was pulled back in a bun, and her deep blue eyes gazed worriedly at us as she approached. She didn't actually look much like Aerith, but I didn't worry about it much. She could have just taken after her father easily enough, I guessed. It didn't seem very important at the time, so I decided it didn't matter and put it out of my mind.

"Hello, Aerith," the woman said, embracing her before letting go and glancing at me. "Who is this?"

Aerith grinned like she was showing me off. And maybe she was, at that. "This is Cloud. My bodyguard."

"Bodyguard? You were followed again?"

The woman shook her head hopelessly as a weary sigh escaped her lips. Apparently this wasn't the first time Aerith had come home like this. Once again, I found myself wondering why Shinra and the Turks were so interested in her. And I also wondered how she had managed to elude them for so long. If they wanted her so badly that they had chased after her multiple times, why hadn't they taken her by now? It didn't make any sense. I was certain the two women had the answers to many of my questions, but since Aerith was home safe now and my job was over, I decided not to worry about it.

Her mother continued while looking her over. "Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you!?"

"I'm fine, Mom," Aerith assured her. "I had Cloud with me."

The woman smiled at me. "Thank you, Cloud. I'm Elmyra, Aerith's mother. It's nice to meet you."

"You too," I nodded. "And you're welcome."

Elmyra turned and went upstairs, leaving me alone with Aerith again. Now that my task of protecting her was finished, I was free to leave and head back to Sector 7 to find the others. Tifa was probably worried sick by now, and Jessie likely wasn't any better off. I could only hope they'd had the good sense to not come looking for me. Shinra almost certainly knew that we had escaped from Reactor 5 by now, and the best thing for the others to do would be to stay out of sight for the time being, at least until things calmed down a bit and Shinra wasn't watching us so closely.

But looking at Aerith, I found myself strangely reluctant to leave her, and not just because of Shinra's interest in her. I had enjoyed the time we had spent together, and I realized I would miss her. She was so full of life and energy, so vibrant and alive. Nothing seemed to get her down or dampen her spirits, unlike so many other people I had seen in this dreary city, and I found that very refreshing. And she had a rather quirky sense of humor. But I knew I had to go, and I didn't want to drag this out any more than I had to. I hated long goodbyes. I still do, come to think of it.

Aerith looked at me. "So what are you going to do now?"

"Is Sector 7 far from here?" I asked. "I need to go to Tifa's bar."

"Is Tifa… a girl?" she wondered. What was she getting at? When I nodded, she went on. "A girl… friend?"

Girlfriend? Why did that matter? Tifa was a close friend and very important to me, but we weren't involved like that. I hadn't given it any thought since we had run into each other at the train station about a month ago. It had never even occurred to me to wonder how she felt about me, if she wanted more than just the friendship we shared. She had never said anything, so I had figured she was as content with the way things were between us as I was. I wasn't opposed to the idea—I'd had something of a crush on her as a kid, after all—but I just hadn't considered it. I wondered now if she had.

I shook my head. "No, we're just friends!"

"You don't have to get _that_ upset," Aerith laughed, stepping closer to me, her eyes fixed on mine. "So… there's no special someone over there waiting for you?"

I was about to tell her no, but then I suddenly thought of Jessie and wondered if that was really true. We weren't actually involved, but I found that I did like her, maybe more than I wanted to admit. When had that happened? She had a spunk and liveliness to her of her own that wasn't so different from Aerith. And I knew that Jessie liked me, too. That kiss she had given me inside the plate had eliminated any doubt about that. Although a part of me felt drawn to Aerith and I enjoyed her company, I realized I wanted to see Jessie again, too. But what was I supposed to say to Aerith?

"Well, there is… sort of…" I admitted.

She smiled, but I could sense the disappointment behind it. "Oh, how nice. But… if it's not Tifa, then who is it?"

"A friend of ours. But we're not together, really. Not yet, anyway…" I trailed off, not entirely sure how to explain it, to myself as well as to her. It was still a little hard for me to take in.

Aerith seemed to sense my difficulty, however, and this time her smile held only gentleness. "You like her, though, don't you? I think I understand. You want to tell her how you feel about her."

She was right, although I hadn't made up my mind about it until just then. But I realized I did want to spend more time with Jessie if I could. It was why I had asked her out, of course, though I hadn't really understood it at the time. But now that I did think about it, I knew it was what I wanted. And I was sure it was what Jessie wanted, too. I figured I'd stick around for a while, doing more missions for Barret to earn more money and help keep him and the others in one piece in their fight with Shinra, so Jessie and I would have plenty of time to get to know each other and see where things went between us. Or so I had thought. But… once again, I was wrong. So much more than I… than I could have possibly known.

I nodded in answer to Aerith's question. "If I can. Not sure I know how, though. It… caught me by surprise, you see…"

"I can tell," Aerith chuckled, her eyes dancing. "But it's alright. Just be yourself, Cloud. That's all that matters. So, let's see… Sector 7? I'll show you the way."

"You gotta be kidding," I argued. "Why do you want to put yourself in danger again?"

She shrugged. "I'm used to it."

"Used to it?" I asked. I didn't doubt it after having escaped with her from the Turks, but I didn't want to risk her safety, either. "Well, I don't know. Getting help from a girl…"

Her hands flew to her hips as her eyes narrowed. "A girl!? What do you mean by that!?"

"Well, uh…"

"You expect me to just sit by quietly and stay here after hearing you say something like that?" she demanded. When Elmyra came back downstairs, Aerith turned to her. "Mom! I'm taking Cloud to Sector 7. I'll be back in a while."

Well, _that_ little gambit of mine had just backfired spectacularly. Now Aerith was even more determined to go with me than she was before. What the hell had I been thinking? I had hoped that she would listen to me and just stay here, but that didn't seem even remotely likely now. I could tell that she wasn't going to change her mind, so I decided not to argue with her about it.

Apparently, Elmyra saw the same thing I did because she sighed in resignation and nodded reluctantly. "But dear… I give up. You never listen once you've made up your mind. But if you must go, why don't you go tomorrow? It's getting late now.."

"Yeah, you're right, Mom," Aerith agreed. Just a little too easily, I thought.

"Good, then, that's settled. Aerith, please go make the bed. I'll go get dinner started while you're doing that."

Aerith flashed me a rather smug smile and went upstairs. I guessed that she was used to getting her own way, and I wondered if she would try to stay with me all the way to Sector 7. I knew she'd have to come back here sooner or later, though, so I supposed it didn't matter. But I would try to get her to go home before we got that far.

When Aerith was gone, Elmyra turned to me. "That glow in your eyes… you're from SOLDIER, right?"

"Yeah," I said. "Well, I used to be…"

She nodded, unsurprised and a little hesitant. "I really don't know how to say this, but… could you please leave here tonight, without telling Aerith? SOLDIER… the last thing Aerith needs is to get hurt again. Once was enough."

"What do you mean?" I wondered.

"It's nothing you need to worry about," she said. "You seem nice enough, but… she's been through so much."

I thought I understood. "I like her, and I'm not about to hurt her. And I'll do what you've asked. It'll help me too, you know. I don't want her in danger again because of me."

"Thank you, Cloud. I appreciate it."

While she set about getting dinner ready, I wandered around the living room, wondering how Jessie and the others were doing and how I was going to sneak out tonight without Aerith knowing about it. In the end, I decided to wait until she was asleep to do that. It would be the best time, and with luck I would be back at the bar before she even knew I was gone. She would be upset, but at least she would be safe. And that was all that mattered.

About an hour or so later, I followed Aerith upstairs to get some rest before heading out later. There were two bedrooms, and a shelf with more flowers sat the end of the short hall. After reaching the first bedroom, Aerith stopped for just a moment and looked back at me. "You'll need to go through Sector 6 to get to Sector 7. Sector 6 is a little dangerous, so you'd better get some rest tonight. Then we'll leave first thing in the morning."

I started to enter the second bedroom but paused as she smiled knowingly at me. "Cloud… goodnight."

"Oh, man…" I murmured as she went into her room.

Was she onto me? She hadn't seemed very tired, and I wondered if she had figured out what I was planning to do. I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised. Aerith, I was starting to learn, wasn't some doey-eyed innocent who didn't know anything about the real world. She was smart, strong, and very perceptive. She'd had to be to survive down here among the pickpockets and odd monsters that were always wandering around the slums. If she knew I was going to sneak out, that would make it a bit harder than I'd originally thought. No doubt she'd be listening for me.

After entering the second bedroom, I leaned my sword against the wall and laid down on the bed. It was little more than sheets, a plain hand-knitted blanket, and a mattress, but it was soft and comfortable nonetheless. It felt good, and it was a lot better than that cot in Barret's basement. As I laid there, my hands clasped behind my head, my mind wandered, thinking of Aerith and Jessie and Tifa, of how I had come to be separated from the others, and of that strange voice I'd heard in my mind lately. So much had happened, and it was a little hard to unwind. But before I knew it, I was asleep.

It was the last bit of peaceful rest I would have for some time.


	10. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - NINE

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**NINE**

"Hey, Jess," I said, steppin' off the elevator and inside the basement. "Someone's outside askin' for ya."

She looked up at me from where she was workin' on her computer, an' her face brightened up right away. Hopin' it was Cloud, I knew. An' I wished I coulda told her it was, both to know he was okay an' to help lift Jessie's spirits. She'd been down ever since the carriage had come an' picked Tifa up to take her to that goddamn Corneo's place over in Wall Market. No, she'd been that way longer than that, I realized. Ever since Tifa and I had come back from Reactor 5 without Cloud.

After Tifa had left, Jessie had wanted to go look for him right away, but I wouldn't have it. We had enough heat on us already, an' we didn't need no more. I knew the Shinra would find out about us escapin' their little trap sooner or later, so we jus' had to stay low an' outta sight for a while 'til they lost interest an' moved on.

I knew that Jess was in love with him—she'd told me herself when I stopped her from goin' after him—but wanderin' all 'round the slums askin' about Cloud was sure to get attention, an' I didn't want that right now. What we did need was to find out if the Shinra knew yet that we'd escaped an' what they was gonna do next. So I'd had Jessie come down here earlier an' hack her way into the Shinra mainframe to get us some answers. We hadn't found nothin' yet, though.

"Is it Cloud?" she asked, hope in her eyes.

I sighed an' shook my head. "No, Jess. Sorry 'bout that. Some older guy. Said he came down here from the plate to see ya."

Jessie looked as stumped as I felt as we headed back upstairs. Biggs an' Wedge had been tendin' the bar since Tifa had left, an' Marlene was stickin' right close to me for now. I held her hand as we walked outside to meet the stranger. As soon as Jessie saw him, her eyes narrowed an' she folded her arms across her chest. So she knew him, but how? She'd never said very much about her life on the plate, but I hadn't asked her, either. Figured it was her business an' had left it at that.

"What do you want?" she said.

The guy scowled at us beneath that huge, bushy black beard of his. It hung down his chest over that dark green military uniform he wore. He was carryin' a bit of extra weight in that gut of his, but his gray eyes didn't have a bit of warmth in 'em. An' then I saw somethin' on his lapel that both made my blood boil right up and scared me shitless all at the same goddamn time.

It was a pin with the Shinra logo engraved on it.

What the hell was one of them goddamn Shinra killers doin' down here? An' how did Jess know him? My head spun tryin' to figure it out. Only thing I knew for sure was that when this bastard was gone, Jessie was gonna have a lot of explainin' to do. An' I doubted I was gonna like whatever she had to tell me. I understood now why she'd held this back from me, but damn, I still wished she'd have said somethin'.

"Get back home, Jessica," the man barked. "You don't belong down here with these sewer rats!"

"I _am_ home. And I'm not leaving."

As proud of Jess as I was at that moment, I wondered what the guy had meant by goin' back home. And what was he really down here for? I glared darkly at him. "That why you came all the way down here? Jus' to stand here an' bother her?"

"A fool like you wouldn't understand," he barked.

"So why _are_ you here?" Jessie demanded. "I doubt it was just to see me. You had to know what I would say."

The guy laughed like a drunk horse. "I had business to attend to in this area and was just making sure everything was in order. And that's all any of you wretched scum need to know!"

"The hell's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Oh, you'll see, but by the time you do, it'll be too late for you to do anything about it! Jessica, for the last time, if you know what's good for you, get out of this stinking cesspit and go home! Now!"

"Why?" she said, her eyes blazin'. "What's going to happen here?"

The guy did seem awfully agitated, an' I wondered the same thing. He wasn't tellin' us everything, that was damn obvious. So them Shinra did have somethin' in the works. But what was it? I thought 'bout tryin' to force some answers outta him like I'd done with Scotch, but decided against it. This guy was a high-level Shinra suit, there wasn't any doubt about it. Roughin' him up like that would surely bring us jus' the kinda heat I'd been tryin' to avoid, an' I didn't want that.

The guy jus' huffed an' kicked the dirt. "I ain't sayin'! There ain't no stoppin' it, either."

"Stoppin' what?" I growled.

"I've already said too much!" he snarled, then looked back at Jessie. "Are you leaving or not? Last chance!"

She shook her head. "I'm staying here. Now get out."

"Fine! Then you'll get just what you deserve! Miserable girl! I don't know why I bothered! It'll be happening soon, and when it does, you'll wish you'd listened to me!"

Before either of us could say anythin' else, the guy left, stompin' off outta the slums an' back toward the train station. Jess watched him go, almost shakin' with rage. For a moment it looked like she was gonna go after him, but she jus' stood there, mad as a hornet 'til Marlene let go of my hand an' took hers instead.

When she did, Jess finally relaxed and managed to give her a small smile, but she didn't look at me yet. I didn't blame her, but I was plenty pissed, an' she damn well knew it. I looked at her, not sure I knew who she was anymore. An' that hurt more than anythin' else.

"So who the hell was that?" I asked.

She sighed, still lookin' away. "That… was my father."

* * *

— _I haven't slept in a bed like this in a long time. —_

It was that voice again. The strangely familiar voice of a young boy. I was asleep, not quite dreaming yet but just hovering there in the dark. I found that the voice was right, as before. Although I still didn't know who it was, I felt like I could trust it. It didn't seem like it meant me any harm. It was more as though it was trying to help me, but how or why, I didn't know. I was more tired and worn out than I had thought, and it was all I could do to keep any kind of awareness here.

_Oh, yeah. That's right._

— _Ever since then. —_

And then I was dreaming. Or was it just a memory? Or a dream of a memory, to be more accurate. In it, I was a teenager, older than when I had made my promise to Tifa. I was lying in a bed. My bed, I realized. In my house at Nibelheim. My mother was hovering near me, as blond as I was in her orange dress and white apron. She was smiling, looking me over she stood there. I remembered I hadn't been happy to be there with her fretting over me like she always did.

"_My, how you've grown," she marveled, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I bet the girls never leave you alone."_

"_Not really," I sighed._

_She went on, her lips pursed. "I'm worried about you. There are a lot of temptations in the city. I'd feel a lot better if you just settled down with a nice girlfriend."_

_I rolled over on my side, not wanting to talk about it. "I'm alright."_

"_You should have… an older girlfriend, one that'll take care of you. I think that would be the best kind of girl for you."_

"_I'm not interested," I told her._

Why had I been so down that day? I couldn't remember. Only that it hadn't been a good visit. As the dream that was a memory dissipated and the darkness returned, I realized the voice had gone silent again. I wasn't surprised. But why had it showed me that memory? What was it trying to tell me? I didn't think it had anything to do with girls despite what the memory had shown me. But before long, my awareness began to fade, and my thoughts scattered as sleep claimed me again.

* * *

I turned to Jess. "Your father? You don't look much like him."

"And I'm very glad about that, believe me," she sighed. "I take after my mother. I look a lot like her, actually."

Well, I supposed that did explain it. I'd known from what she'd told me before that her dad was some sorta corporate exec, but nothin' like this. Jess hadn't been lyin', that was true enough, but she hadn't told me everythin' either. Not by half, I was guessin'. As we went back inside the bar, I tried to keep my anger under control, but it jus' wasn't happenin'. Soon as we got back inside, I had Biggs an' Wedge clear out the crowd, an' when it was jus' Marlene an' the four of us left, I whirled on Jess, my eyes narrowin' as I frowned at her.

"Awright, girl! Time to 'fess up! You know damn well jus' how I feel about them Shinra bastards, and now I find out you not only know one of 'em, you're his goddamn daughter! An' not jus' any suit, either, I bet. He's one of their top brass, ain't he?"

She started tremblin' as she spoke. "Barret, I…"

"So what the hell's goin' on here, Jessie!? I never bothered you 'bout your past before, figured you had your reasons to keep it all quiet. But I think I got a right to know now. Jus' how far does it go, Jessie? You best start talkin' right quick or you can jus' head on outta here an' not come back! I don't need anyone here I can't trust. An' right now, I ain't sure I can trust you no more!"

No sooner had those damn fool words of mine left my mouth than Jessie choked back a sob an' ran for the elevator. She rode it on down to the basement while Biggs an' Wedge jus' watched the whole thing, both of 'em starin' and at a loss for words. Me, I was still mad, but I was also kickin' myself for lashin' out at her the way I had. Why the friggin' hell didn't I ever think before I said stupid shit like that? She'd never done a damn thing to hurt us an' was always tryin' to look out for everyone an' fight the Shinra jus' like we were. I'd jus' never realized how personal it was for her, though. 'Til now, anyway.

With a sigh, I rode the elevator on down to the basement after her. I found Jessie sittin' over at her desk, cryin' with her head buried in her arms in front of her. _Damn. Now look at what I done. What the hell was I thinkin'?_ She looked up as I went to her, tears slidin' down her face an' her brown eyes all red an' puffy. I tell ya, I felt about an inch tall at that moment. I glanced down at the floor, knowin' damn well that if Myrna had still been around then, I'd have gotten an' earful from her. And that woman had known how to fill an ear, believe me. She'd had a talent for it. My wife was a helluva woman, but she didn't put up with no bullshit, neither. Damn, but I still miss her.

I looked back up at Jessie an' put my good hand upon her shoulder. "Come here, girl."

She did, trembin' a little with each step, an' I wrapped her in a tight hug. I still didn't know what she was gonna tell me, but I didn't want it to get in the way of us bein' friends. An' family, too. The four of us had always been real tight like that, an' I wasn't gonna let nothin' change it. It didn't matter to me no more what Jessie's ties to Shinra were. She was AVALANCHE now, an' that was all I cared about. Whatever she had to say, I wasn't gonna take my anger out on her anymore.

"Sorry for bitin' your head off back there, Jess," I apologized. "It… it was wrong of me to treat ya like that."

She hugged me again, but there was still sadness in her voice when she spoke. "Thank you, Barret. I never… I never wanted to hurt you or the others. I just… I just didn't want to put you all in danger. And I… I was afraid you'd hate me…"

"I don't hate ya, Jess. None of us do."

"But you don't know everything. Not yet. So… you still might."

I shook my head, lookin' her right in the eye. "No. I don't care what it is. We gonna handle it together, you got that?"

More tears slid from her eyes, then, but these ones was happier, an' Jessie smiled a little as she finally let go of me. Wipin' her eyes an' nose, she followed me upstairs, an' I motioned for Biggs an' Wedge to join us as we sat down at one of the nearby tables.

For a moment, I didn't say nothin' and neither did anyone else. We jus' looked at each other for a moment, then at Jessie. She took a breath to compose herself, rubbed her eyes again, an' looked at me, her brown irises still scared.

I took her hand an' nodded. "Go ahead, Jess. Let's hear it."

* * *

When I finally woke up, the house was utterly quiet. Maybe Aerith was asleep after all. I sat up, stretched for a minute or two, then looked around. Buster was still leaning against the wall where I'd left it earlier, but next to it on the floor lay a small box. I got up and went to check it out. Inside it was a potion and a small pouch of phoenix down. Elmyra must have left them here for me while I was asleep. Taking the items, I slung Buster over my shoulder and crept out the door.

Taking care not to walk too quickly on the wood floor, I snuck past Aerith's room, and it wasn't until I had headed downstairs and stepped through the front door that I finally relaxed a little and started walking more normally. I was about to head back in between the mountains of junk toward the rest of the slums when a sparkle somewhere off to my left suddenly caught my eye. I realized it was coming from the garden, and so I turned and headed over to check it out.

Crossing over to the round platforms of Aerith's backyard garden, I moved amongst the flowers until I spotted something lying amidst the greenery. It was a materia orb, its deep purple glow shining brightly in the gloom. I picked it up, trying to figure out just what kind it was, and after examining it for a minute or two, I saw it was Cover. It takes some practice, but you can eventually figure out what kind of materia an orb is by concentrating on it and the spiritual power inside of it. The one I had just found, Cover, grants you a boost of speed in critical moments so you can sometimes intercept attacks against your allies.

That would surely be useful, especially if by some chance I ran into Aerith again. I was still her bodyguard, after all. And I'd use anything I could find to protect her. I fit my new materia orb into one of the slots embedded into my wrist guards, and when it was firmly in place, I left the garden and headed down the path away from Aerith's house.

I passed through the slum village, which was quiet now at this time of night, and walked until the path dead-ended in a two-way split. The left branch led back to the church, so I figured the right side must lead to Sector 7. Glancing around to see that I was alone, I turned right and started heading down the dirt path, my eyes watching the shadows for anyone or anything that might crawl out and attack. But nothing did. I had only gone a few steps, though, when I suddenly staggered to a halt, my eyes widening in shock as I stared in disbelief.

Aerith stood there waiting for me, her staff ready in her hands and a smirk on her face.

"You're up bright and early," she teased.

I groaned, wondering just how the hell she had outsmarted me and swearing not to underestimate her ever again. "How could I ask you to come along knowing it would be dangerous?"

"Are you done?" she raised an eyebrow, annoyed now.

"I just…"

I cut myself off, however, as soon as I saw two thugs melting out of the shadows on either side of Aerith, dirty masks and bandanas hiding their faces and sharp, wicked knives grasped in their hands. Instantly I reached for Buster, but she was faster. Before either of the goons could even make a move, she slammed the butt end of her staff right into the gut of the one on her left, then whipped it back around and caught the other one right across the face. As I gaped at her, my jaw hanging open as if it had become completely unhinged, Aerith spun around, brought up her arm, and with a quick flash of green light from her wrist, called forth a small blizzard that enveloped her two assailants in icy cold and sent them staggering backwards.

And she _still_ wasn't done.

Expertly twirling her staff, Aerith sent it flying between one of the thugs' legs to crush his crotch, then while he howled in pain and fell to his knees, she reversed the staff's momentum with a flick of her wrist and slammed it backhanded into the side of the other goon's head. He dropped to the ground like a rock, out cold, while the first one hobbled away as Aerith unleashed another blast of cold that left him little more than a frigid, bloodied mess as he limped off into the gloom. He cast a panicked glance at her over his shoulder and was gone.

When it was over, Aerith looked back at me, smiling sweetly. "You were saying?"

"Ah, nevermind…" I sighed, giving up.

She laughed. "I told you, I can take care of myself."

"No kidding," I shook my head hopelessly, still stunned at what I'd just seen. "Tell me again why you need a bodyguard. You could be one yourself, the way you fight."

"Thanks, Cloud! Maybe I can be _your_ bodyguard sometime. What do you think?"

I grinned. "Maybe you can. You could put me out of a job."

"Oh, I'd never do that," she chuckled. "But I would always keep you safe and sound, I promise."

I didn't doubt it. I laughed with her, amused at how thoroughly she had fooled me and utterly surprised at how quickly and completely she had decimated those two unlucky goons. And she had enjoyed all of it immensely, I knew. I wasn't so worried about her safety now. Her little display had seen to that. I decided it couldn't hurt to let her come with me as far as the gate to Sector 7. She deserved that much, had earned it after what she had just done here. And I was sure Aerith knew it every bit as well as I did.

I nodded. "You ready?"

"Yeah. And Cloud… we can protect each other, you know?"

"Right," I agreed. "We can."

Aerith smiled as she approached the opening in the wall. "We have to go through the slums in Sector 6 to get to Sector 7. There's a gate not far from here. I'll take you there. Come on!"

Before I could say anything else, she ran off, disappearing through the gap. I shook my head hopelessly and wondered how I was going to keep up with her. I figured she wouldn't go far, but knowing her now as I did, I found I wasn't as certain about that as I would have been before watching her trounce those two thieves without even breaking a sweat. In any case, I decided to keep a much closer eye on her. She seemed to like trouble just as much as Jessie, if not more. This was going to be an interesting experience, to say the least.

With a resigned sigh, I followed Aerith into Sector 6.

* * *

"That man, my father… his name's Heidegger, and he's the head of Shinra's Peace Preservation Division."

For a moment, that was all Jess said, an' we all jus' sat there, starin' at her like we'd been hit with a brick between the eyes. I knew that guy had to have been high up the chain, but not _that_ high. I'd heard of him though, now that I thought about it. He led Shinra's military an' was in charge of them Turks that did Shinra's dirty work. He answered only to President Shinra himself, so he was also one of the most powerful men in the city. High up the chain, indeed.

I nodded to Jess, tryin' my best to encourage her. I'd never seen her so scared, though. "Go on, Jess. It's okay."

She swallowed, let out a deep breath, and went on. "I told you that I was a computer tech when I lived on the plate, and that's true enough. I just never said what company I worked for. It… it was Shinra, Barret. I was there for almost five years, ever since I was sixteen. I was only an assistant then, but by the time I finally left that place, I was in charge of their Systems Operation Division. I developed and maintained all their computer systems and their internal network."

"That's where I learned a lot of what I know about computers, and it's also why I can hack into it so well. When I took over the division, I completely redesigned that system to make it much more efficient, but doing that also allowed me to find out where all the weak spots were. I still know. And even though I've been gone for a year now, they haven't changed much. Bureaucracy, you know? So I've always used that to my advantage to get us whatever information I can. It's also how I was able to find the reactor plans and everything else we needed."

"But… that wasn't all I did at Shinra," she sighed, tremblin'. "I only wish that it was…"

I squeezed her hand gently. "What else did ya do there?"

"Weapons design," Jessie breathed, not lookin' at us now. "That was my second job. I worked for Scarlet, who was the head of the Weapons Development Division. Most of the guns, bombs, and weapons Shinra's been using over the past few years to… hurt and kill people with, I… I created them… and sometimes I… I tested them."

"I was told it was just theoretical research and for fighting against monsters, but I think I knew, deep down, that it wasn't. I just… I didn't want to believe it. Not until I read the reports of Shinra soldiers killing people with… with the weapons I had created. They… they used them to put down peaceful protests, destroyed whole villages for refusing to allow them to build more reactors, and… so much more."

"I mentioned yesterday that the bomb for Reactor 1 was my first, and I suppose, in way, that's true. It was the first one that I had ever put together myself. But not the first I had ever designed. So I still… I still feel like I lied to you all. About who I really was, about everything, and I_… _I'm so sorry…"

Tears spilled from her eyes again, an' for a moment she couldn't go on. That anger in me started risin' up on hearin' all of what she did, but I stuffed it down. She might've made the weapons, but she hadn't been the one decidin' how they was gonna be used. I knew that she was still blamin' herself for it, though. Jess had always been too hard on herself, but now I was startin' to understand why. I jus' hoped tellin' us 'bout it would help her somehow.

"It ain't your fault, Jessie," I told her. Biggs an' Wedge both nodded their agreement as I kept goin'. "You didn't choose what they was gonna be used for. The Shinra did that. So don't be beatin' yourself up about it no more, you hear?"

"But if it wasn't for me…" she started.

I shook my head. "It don't matter who made 'em. Shinra would've done the same damn thing."

She stared at me for a minute, then let out a long sigh. "I… I guess you're right. It's just… I've been carrying this guilt around for so long. I was afraid if you all knew who and what I was, you'd hate me…"

"Well, that ain't happenin', Jess. We a family, you hear?"

"Damn straight!" Biggs grinned.

Wedge put an arm around her shoulder. "We're all with you, Jessie. You don't have to worry."

"You guys…" she smiled, blinkin' away more tears as she looked at us. I knew how hard it must've been for her to tell us what she had, an' I was proud of my boys for standin' behind her like that. Whatever was comin', we'd face it together. Wasn't no doubt about it. I jus' wished that Tifa, an' hell even Cloud, was here, too.

I gave her hand another squeeze. "Tell us the rest, now."

Jessie nodded, took a minute to compose herself, an' continued. "I also told you my mom died in a train crash. That big accident in Sector 6 last year, remember? They're still rebuilding from it, over by the old highway, and it's a wreck. But what I didn't say, and what I didn't know when it happened, was that it wasn't an accident at all."

"What do ya mean?" I asked.

"Shinra blamed it on you guys, on AVALANCHE. I'm sure you saw it in the news. And back then, I believed it was true, at least at first. I… I hated you guys. I was so devastated at losing my mom and wanted to hurt you as much as I possibly could. My father, he encouraged that, of course. It was one of the only things we could still talk about anymore. I had adored him when I was a little girl, before I grew older and came to understand what he really was. He's a monster, Barret. And he's also very, very dangerous."

"My mom was absolutely terrified of him, of his utter ruthlessness and his complete disregard for anyone besides himself. For the longest time, I resented her for not leaving him, for staying, but that was before I really understood how scared she was. Barret, do you remember that accident in Reactor 3, not long before the train wreck?"

I nodded. That had been big news. "Yeah. A few of them goddamn security mechs malfunctioned an' killed a whole bunch of maintenance workers there during a protest they'd made about the conditions in the place. Shinra and their friggin' machines…"

"Right. Only, it wasn't an accident, either. My father saw to that. He set the whole thing up. The roboguards have two different modes, you see. Normally, when people are working, the mechs are kept in standby mode, where they only attack if they or the workers are threatened. But my father, he had secretly ordered a few of them to be switched over to battle mode, where they'll shoot and kill anything in range, without the workers knowing about it."

"My mom found out the truth, though, and it gave her the courage and leverage that she needed to finally leave him. She had other secrets of his that she'd learned, but this was the biggest. I think she was either going to expose him or blackmail him somehow into letting her go, but I never found out. And she was never able to go through with it, either, because she died in that train accident. It was blamed on all of you, but the more I looked into it, the more I doubted it was true."

"I decided to hack into my father's computer and see what I could find. And that's when I discovered the messages that held a lot of what I just told you. They also contained his orders to the Turks to sabotage the train. He… he killed my mother, Barret. And so many others. Just to keep his secrets from getting out. After that, I knew that I had to get as far away from him as I could. He would find out what I knew sooner or later, and then… and then he'd come after me next."

I shook my head, my rage now at Shinra, as it should've been. And at that rat bastard Heidegger. He was gonna have helluva lot to answer for, that was for goddamn sure. Now I understood why Jessie had been so worried about puttin' us all in danger, an' I didn't blame her for bein' scared. She had damn good reason to be, but I wasn't gonna let nothin' happen to her. Jessie was part of the family, and there wasn't no way I'd let Shinra get their friggin' hands on her.

"We ain't lettin' him touch ya, Jess. You got that?"

She smiled at us. "Thanks, everyone. It… it means so much to me. I've just been so afraid of him and what he might do, and I felt so alone even though I was here with you all."

Wedge smiled right back at her. "You're not alone, Jess. We're right here with you."

"You got that right!" Biggs added, punchin' the air with his fist. "So how did you get outta there?"

"I wasn't sure who to trust anymore. But I knew what I'd found out couldn't be allowed to die with my mother. And… and with me, if my father ever caught up to me. I know how you feel about Shinra, Barret, but not everyone there is like him. There are good people in there, too. They're either trapped in that terrible place like I was, trying to change things from within, or both. There was one man in particular who was a friend of my mother's. I only met him a few times, but he was always kind to me. He was one of Shinra's top executives, and he was the only one I ever saw who really cared about other people."

"Not long after I had discovered the truth about the train accident and my mom's death, I decided to confide in him. I gave him copies of everything I'd found, and he took me down to the slums himself while my father was busy elsewhere. I hadn't felt comfortable taking a train at the time, considering the circumstances, and Reeve had felt exactly the same way. He didn't stay long, though. He told me that being seen with him might draw too much attention, and he wanted to be sure that my father wouldn't find out where I was. I… I never got a chance to thank him before he left. I wish I could, though."

I sat back in my chair. "So that's your story, then."

"Yeah. And I met you all not long after that. When your computer crashed that day and you didn't have any idea how to fix it, remember? And that job led to me being here."

"I remember," I said, an' we all laughed. "I was 'bout ready to shoot the damn thing by the time you showed up."

Wedge scratched his chin as if somethin' was botherin' him. "How did your dad know you were here tonight, though, Jess? How could he have found out?"

"I don't know," she shook her head. "But don't call him that."

"Why not?"

Her gaze was hard as stone when she answered. "A dad is someone who's there for you and cares about you, who loves you no matter what and looks out for you. My father was never like that. That's why I don't call him dad. Because he's not and never was."

Wedge nodded. "I think I understand."

"You know, Barret," Jess said, smilin' at me. "You really showed me what a dad is, with how much you love Marlene and are always there to take care of her and keep her safe. I never knew what that was like until I came here and met you."

My grin was so wide it must've reached my ears. "Damn, girl! You tryin' to make me blush? But, um, well… thanks. I know I don't always do the best job of it, but I love her jus' the same. An' I'm glad I was able to show you that."

Wedge looked at her. "So why else was your father here, Jess?"

"He said he had business to attend to. But what in the slums could there be that would interest him?"

"Maybe not this place, but something nearby?" Biggs wondered.

At first I didn't have a clue. But then it hit me like a sledgehammer to the face, and my blood turned to ice as I understood what was really goin' on. Biggs an' Wedge hadn't gotten it yet, but Jessie sure as hell did, her eyes widenin' jus' the same as mine were as it suddenly sank in an' we saw the terrible truth. We both shot to our feet, speakin' at the same time in the same breathless, horrified gasp.

"_The pillar!"_


	11. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - TEN

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**TEN**

This part of the Sector 6 slums was in ruins. It was an old highway, the concrete split apart by jagged cracks and broken in multiple places where it had sunk deep into the ground. All along the devastated road lay pieces of debris and abandoned construction equipment, including old wooden beams, rusted pipes, blackened shreds of wiring, and even a rusted yellow crane off to the left.

Someone had made a few crude sets of stairs out of wood planks to reach the higher portions of the road, and a dirty steel girder served as a makeshift ramp a little farther down the highway. I wondered briefly why Shinra hadn't ever bothered to fix this place but then realized that they cared so little for anyone other than themselves that they probably had decided it wasn't worth doing. That was pretty typical of Shinra, of course, if unfortunate.

Aerith was waiting for me a short distance ahead, her staff grasped lightly in her hands and a small smile on her face. "You didn't think I'd go off and leave you all alone, did you?"

"Nah. You're my bodyguard, remember?" I grinned.

"Yeah! So stay close to me, okay?"

I laughed. "Sure, as long as you stay near me. I'm your bodyguard, too, after all."

"Deal!" she agreed.

As Aerith fell in beside me, we set out together across the highway, walking carefully upon the broken ground as we went. Quiet lay across everything like a blanket. My eyes scanned the shadows, and I noticed that Aerith was wary as well, her eyes alert and her staff ready. She was a lot tougher than I'd originally thought back when I had first met her, very much like her flowers. Seemingly delicate, but in truth deceptively strong and incredibly resilient. And just as beautiful.

We were halfway down the road when several insect-like creatures suddenly scuttled toward us from the rubble. I drew my sword as they got close to us, and I noticed that Aerith was preparing to cast another spell, the Ice materia embedded into her staff glowing a bright green as she called on its power. The bug-like things were a little over three feet long, with tails lashing like whips and four spindly legs. A hard purple carapace encased their bodies, and their mouths were a ring of pointed teeth lined by the small yellow dots of their eyes. And they struck with blazing speed, scuttling toward us with barely a sound.

Two went for me, and two struck at Aerith. I spun, slashing Buster at the nearest of the monsters while Aerith froze another with a blast of cold before slamming it with a backhand swipe of her staff. I cut again at the creature I was attacking and scored another hit, slicing through its tough outer shell this time to slice deep into the soft insides that lay underneath, and it collapsed and lay still.

Another one struck at Aerith with its tail, but right before the blow landed, there was a brilliant flash of purple light from my wrist. I felt a jolt all through my body as though I'd been fired from a slingshot, and then instantly I was there, darting between Aerith and the monster and taking the hit for her, the tail slicing its way across my shoulder instead of hers and leaving a thin line of blood.

While Aerith enveloped the creature with more of her ice magic, I ignored the pain and swept my sword across the beast's hide in a series of quick cuts that left it a bleeding, sundered mess lying on the ground. Then I had to dive to one side as another of the creatures bit at me with its nasty teeth. Without even getting to my feet, I dove into myself and struck it with my lightning magic, frying it while Aerith took down the other one with her staff and a barrage of ice spells.

I was still trying to get up when I suddenly realized that the one I'd just shocked was still coming at me, and I brought Buster up in front of me, gripping it sideways like a shield to block as the monster attacked, smacking its tail against the flat of the blade again and again as it tried to reach me. But then it shuddered and sank abruptly to the ground as the top end of Aerith's staff crushed its head.

She smiled and helped me up. "See, I told you I'd look out for you!"

"Yeah, you did," I agreed. "Thanks."

Bowing her head, Aerith closed her eyes in concentration and held out her hands. Then a sphere of greenish-white energy appeared above her palms. After only a moment it faded away, but in its wake, a warm, gentle breeze swirled softy around us. I gazed at her in wonder as I my wounds were healed. Hers were as well, the few she had sustained, and soon the wind was gone, almost as though it had never been.

"What was that?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Just something I can do."

I doubted it was really that simple, but I hadn't expected her to tell me everything. It was magic of some kind, but not from materia. It had come from someplace else. I didn't know where, though. Not then. But I figured that whatever Aerith's abilities were, they had to be part of the reason why Shinra was after her.

In any event, I decided not to press her about it. She would tell me when she felt she was ready. If she was still with me, that was. We were almost to Sector 7 now, and our time together would be over soon. Far too soon, I thought. I didn't want it to end so fast, but I wasn't sure that I could risk taking her any further.

A few minutes later, we reached the end of the highway. Just past a rusted metal fence stood an old abandoned playground, and beyond it was the massive gate to Sector 7. It was closed for the moment, and the guards that normally stood watch near it were gone.

What could it mean? There wasn't a lot of traffic that went through there, but it still saw some use at times. Enough that usually there was always someone there to take care of maintenance and to collect all the tolls Shinra often charged. The company taxed just about everything it could in this town.

"The gate to Sector 7's in there," Aerith pointed.

"Thanks," I told her. "I guess this is goodbye. You gonna be alright getting home?"

She twirled around, assuming a pose of feigned helplessness as she replied in a melodramatic, damsel-in-distress voice with an expression of mock terror on her face. "Oh, no! Whatever will I do!?"

"You tell me," I laughed.

"Isn't that what you want me to say?" she giggled.

I shook my head. If there was one thing I had learned about Aerith during the short time we'd spent together, it was that she was far from helpless. And nothing at all like I had expected. Aerith definitely knew how to keep me on my toes, and I suspected she enjoyed it much more than she let on. I decided then that it couldn't hurt to let her come with me after all, at least for a little while. Tifa and the others would like her, and I was sure she would like them, too.

I grinned and shook my head. "Nah, I know better. You're way too smart for that."

"Thanks, Cloud!" she said.

"No problem. I guess you can come with me if you want."

Aerith nodded, then stepped a little closer, her staff held loosely in her hands as she looked at me, her eyes fixed on mine. "I could do that. But won't I be in your way?"

"What do you mean, in the way?" I asked.

"Nothing!" she said. I could tell that wasn't entirely true, but I let it pass as she went on. "Can we take a break for a minute?"

Without waiting for an answer, Aerith walked into the park, gazing at it in fond wonder. A swing set sat off to the left, and to the right was small tunnel in the shape of a cartoonish bear-like character. Children must have crawled happily through it back when they still played here. Ahead of us stood a large mound shaped like a similar goofy character, but with a short ladder leading up into its right ear and a slide issuing from its mouth. The slide ended in a square sandpit, and all around the playground were jumbled piles of broken red iron girders and heaps of discarded junk and scrap metal.

Aerith smiled, her eyes not quite dry. "I can't believe it's still here."

After gazing at the park for a moment, she dashed over behind the slide, climbed onto it, and sat down on top of the smooth, domed head of the white bearlike thing it came out of.

She waved at me, her green eyes sparkling in the dimness, and laid her mythril staff down next to her on her right side as she beckoned to me. "Cloud, over here!"

I climbed up and sat down next to her. "You used to play here?"

"When I was little," she nodded. "Mom used to bring me here a lot. It was full of kids back then."

"Sounds nice," I told her.

It had to have been, back when this place hadn't been such a wreck and the highway had still been in one piece. I smiled at the thought of Aerith as a little girl and wondered what it must have been like to grow up around here. It couldn't have been very easy, and I marveled at how she had turned out, at how strong and upbeat she was in this dark and dreary place. Aerith really was something special.

She glanced fondly at the playground and smiled. "Thank you. So, Cloud… what rank were you?"

I blinked. "Rank?"

"You know, in SOLDIER."

"Oh, I was…" I had to think for a moment or two, but then it came me. "First Class."

Why had it taken any extra thought to answer? I knew exactly who I was. Cloud Strife, former SOLDIER First Class and also a mercenary currently working for AVALANCHE. Tifa's childhood friend. That was me. I shook off the strange doubts that had suddenly bothered me and brought my thoughts back to the present, to Aerith.

Her gaze was distant now, seeing far beyond the playground. "Just the same as him…"

"The same as who?" I asked.

"My first boyfriend."

I glanced at her, curious without knowing quite why. "Were you… serious?"

She smiled a little. "No. But I liked him for a while."

I wasn't surprised that she had been involved with someone before, even if it had only been a casual relationship. Aerith was friendly, kind, and funny as hell. It wouldn't be hard at all for any guy to be taken with her. I liked her myself, and I'd have been lying if I had said that I wasn't attracted to her at all, but I was also content with our friendship just as it was. And Jess was in Sector 7 waiting for me. I felt my heart speed up a little at the thought of seeing her again.

"I probably knew him," I mused, thinking of what Aerith had said. "What was his name?"

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. But what about your friend? The girl that you were telling me about before, back at my house. Does she… have a name?"

"Jessie," I answered.

"I like it," Aerith replied. "Tell me about her."

And so I did, telling her about how Jessie and I had first met when Tifa had brought me back from the train station to the bar to meet her and the others about a month ago and about how suspicious Jessie had been of me. I laughed a little at that, marveling at how far she and I had come in only a day or two. I told Aerith about how I had saved Jessie in Reactor 1, first by freeing her when she got stuck and then by catching her before she could fall into the fires below us.

I also spoke to Aerith about how Jessie and I had later driven up to the plate on that very same night to hide the second bomb, of how she had talked to me about her doubts and misgivings about what we were doing as well as her subsequent breakdown. It was little odd, admitting to Aerith that we had blown up those reactors, but I knew I could trust her without knowing _how_ I knew. It was just part of that strange sense of having known her longer than I really had.

Aerith passed no judgment, and she didn't give me a disapproving frown or withdraw from me. She only listened, so quietly and patiently, with the sort of gentle reassurance and understanding that's difficult to find in most people anymore. It's one of the things that I liked the most about her. She seemed to sense my own doubts about the missions that I had undertaken, and I realized then that I felt the same as Jessie, that bombing the reactors might not have been the best way to fight Shinra. Aerith never said a word about it, but she hadn't had to, either. I saw it in her eyes clearly enough.

And I also saw that she didn't blame me, didn't think any less of me for what I had been part of. It meant a great deal to me, a lot more than she knew, and I was glad she still considered me a friend. She took my hand lightly in hers as I told her all about what I had helped Barret and the others to do and also of how Jessie and I had escaped from the two ambushes Shinra had set for us after hiding the bomb. I told her about everything else that had led to us entering Reactor 5 and how that had turned out, with the trap that Shinra had sprung and how I had ended up falling into her church.

The only thing I kept to myself was the last moment Jess and I had spent alone before I had entered Reactor 5, the kiss she'd given me and the ride I had promised her. I wanted to keep that between us for now. Aerith seemed to understand, though. She sensed, as she often seemed to have a way of doing, that I hadn't told her everything, but she didn't press me about it. She just gave my hand a gentle squeeze as I finished talking and smiled knowingly.

"Thank you," she said. "I'm looking forward to meeting her."

"She'll like you. They all will, come to think of it."

Aerith's eyes danced. "They better! After all, I brought you back to them safe and sound."

"Yeah, you did, didn't you?" I chuckled. Somehow, with her, it was a bit easier for me to lighten up like that. It felt more natural, somehow. "Thanks, by the way. For everything."

"It was my pleasure, Cloud. But…"

I glanced at her. "What is it?"

"We agreed that the price for being my bodyguard was a date," she said. "But I didn't know about Jessie when I suggested it. I guess I kind of put you in a difficult position. I'm sorry about that."

It was true that when Aerith had sprung that little surprise on me, I had felt like I'd had to accept so that I wouldn't hurt her feelings. We'd only been joking around, but I hadn't wanted to upset her. I still didn't. But I didn't want Jessie getting the wrong idea about us, either. The last thing I wanted was to hurt either of them. I liked both of these women, and despite the circumstances, I was glad I'd met them.

"Don't worry about it," I shrugged. "You couldn't have known."

"Thanks, Cloud. And we don't have to go out, if you don't want to. I don't want to get in the way."

Now it was my turn to give her hand a soft squeeze. "You're not in the way, Aerith. And I don't think there's anything wrong with a couple of friends hanging out together. So we can still make it work."

"I'd like that," she smiled.

A moment later, there was a loud rumbling behind us, and we both turned to look as the gate to Sector 7 slowly slid open. Through it rode a red chocobo-driven carriage, the driver steering the yellow-feathered bird with a set of thick leather reins. When he guided the cart onto the narrow dirt track that stretched its way past the playground and lead to Wall Market, my eyes widened and I shot to my feet along with Aerith, hardly able to believe what I was seeing.

Standing in the back of the carriage was Tifa.

She wore a short, tight-fitting sleeveless dark blue dress with a gold chain hanging around her waist, and a pair of matching blue high heels covered her feet. Tifa had also put on makeup, which I had never seen her do before, and her hair hung loose, free for once of the dolphin tail she normally wore it in. From her right shoulder hung a blue handbag. What was going on? Why was she dressed up like that and riding a cart over to Wall Market? Tifa wore a troubled expression upon her face, as though something were bothering her.

"Tifa!?" I called out, hardly able to believe it was really her.

At the sound of my voice, she looked up and saw me, and her eyes widened as her jaw dropped and her hands grabbed the rail. But before she could say anything, the carriage hurried on down the road, pulling her away, and she was gone. I stared after her, still stunned at what had just happened. It didn't make any sense.

Aerith followed my gaze, as puzzled about it as I was. "That girl in the carriage was Tifa?"

"Yeah," I answered. "I'm sure of it."

"Where was she going? She looked kind of odd…"

Before I could say anything, Aerith jumped off the mound and ran after Tifa and the carriage until she disappeared from sight around the corner. I sighed and shook my head as I followed her. _Damn! What the hell was she thinking!?_ Coming with me to Sector 7 was one thing, but Wall Market was a whole other matter. I hadn't been in Midgar all that long, but even I had heard of the infamous reputation of the place. And now both Tifa and Aerith were in there.

I found Aerith only a moment later, waiting for me over by the gate to Wall Market. The carriage's tracks were clear enough, a pair of rough parallel lines in the dirt along with the unmistakable marks of chocobo prints, but the carriage itself was already long gone. A bright sign lit up in green neon arched its way over the gate, and the chocobo tracks led right into the heart of the town.

Aerith turned as I approached. "This place is scary in a lot of ways. Especially for a girl. So we've got to find Tifa fast."

"Count on it," I agreed completely.

The infamous Don Corneo ruled this part of the Sector 6 slums as if it was his own private kingdom, and many of the young women that were brought to his palace were never heard from again. Was he part of the reason Tifa had come to this place? I hoped not, but I couldn't rule it out. And that made me even more worried for her. What could have caused her to be desperate enough to come out here to see that vicious bastard? What did she want from him? There was only one way to find out. I just hoped we weren't too late.

With Aerith at my side, I headed into Wall Market.

* * *

"Awright!" I said, gazin' up at the pillar. "So far, so good."

We stood jus' outside the fence, lookin' at where the platform with the controls was a few hundred feet above us. I wasn't keen on climbin' all them stairs, but I had to get there before the Shinra did. They wasn't here yet, but I knew it wouldn't be much longer. We had to be ready for 'em now that we knew exactly what they was gonna do here. I hoped to hell I was wrong, but I knew deep in my gut that I wasn't. There was no low Shinra wouldn't sink to, not even this.

Biggs frowned. "So what's our next move, boss?"

"That's easy enough," I said. "You an' Wedge go start movin' people out, as many as you can as fast as you can. Try to see if you can get 'em to leave the area for a while. Don't go tellin' 'em what we know. Jus' say it's important an' it's not safe here."

"Got it. Anything else?"

I nodded. "Once you see them Shinra troops, hightail it back here. We gotta keep 'em off the pillar as long as possible."

"We're on it!" Wedge replied, an' Biggs nodded in agreement.

I looked at Jessie. "Jess, you're with me. We gotta get up top soon as we can an' secure the platform before them Shinra get there. Check the pillar controls an' see what you can do to lock 'em out."

"Right!" she said, her gaze set an' determined.

Damn, but I was so proud of 'em. They was scared, of course, but I didn't blame 'em. I was, too. It was a frightenin' situation we was in. But they was committed to doin' whatever had to be done, and there wasn't no hesitation in any of 'em. Jus' a firm resolve to do what they could to save everyone an' stop Shinra's horrific plan. I gazed at 'em one by one, my friends, my team, an' they each nodded back one after the other. In that moment, I think we was tighter than we'd ever been. I can still see 'em like that even now, whenever I close my eyes.

"Awright," I said. "Let's get to work!"

Turnin' to face the fence, I brought up my gun-arm and shot open the lock while Biggs an' Wedge hurried off to start helpin' people to get outta here fast as they could. They'd already gone ahead an' gotten their own families to safety before we ever got here. Biggs had sent his sister to a friend's place over in Sector 4 while Wedge had made sure his little brother an' his mom got out, too.

I ran up the stairs, almost takin' 'em two at a time as Jessie followed close behind me, that old machine gun of hers hangin' from one hip an' a pouch with some of her tools an' homemade explosives swingin' from the other. Biggs an' Wedge was armed, too, since we knew it was gonna come down to a fight sooner or later. I jus' hoped we'd all make it home tonight an' that it would still be there waitin' for us when this mess was all over. Shovin' those thoughts outta my mind, I hurried up the tower, hopin' we weren't too late.

We was about halfway there when I heard it. A sound that I'd been dreadin' ever since this all started an' had hoped would never show up. I shuddered, scannin' the horizon for the source of that sound. Jess did the same, an' she was the first to spot it, seizin' my arm and pointin' off toward the underside of the Sector 8 plate far in the distance. I felt my blood freeze in my veins as my stomach twisted itself into a knot when I saw what was comin' our way.

It was a Shinra attack chopper.

"Shit…" I breathed.

The helicopter was still far away, but it wouldn't be too long before it got here. An' I was willin' to bet that squads of Shinra troops were on the ground, comin' up fast behind it. This was it, then. Jessie was starin' at the chopper, her face pale, an' I put a hand on her shoulder, as much to reassure myself as her. She smiled an' nodded, an' we raced onward, fast as we could. There wasn't no backin' out now.

Shinra was comin' fast. Comin' for us.

* * *

Aerith and I followed the carriage tracks through the winding and glaringly bright streets of Wall Market, ignoring for the time being the wide collection of shops, restaurants, inns, and other much less savory establishments littering the place. The smell of mako was here too, as it was everywhere in the slums, but mixed in along with it were a host of other assorted odors, the scents of alcohol, food, and smoke, of various things being sold and bought, and of who knew what else.

After a few minutes, we found ourselves in front of the Honey Bee Inn, a house of ill repute in one of Wall Market's seedier districts. The tracks led here before doubling back the way they had come, but before continuing on the trail, I decided to ask around and get a few answers. Had Tifa gotten off here? And if so, why?

The Honey Bee Inn was a brightly lit, six-sided building decorated with numerous plastic hearts and gaudy, flashing signs. A small crowd, mostly of guys, clustered around outside the main entrance, where two finely-dressed men, one middle-aged in a gray suit and the other older with dark pants and a red vest, checked out the potential visitors. Since they seemed to be in charge here, I guessed they were as good a source of information as any and walked over to them.

"Welcome, welcome!" the older man greeted me. "Even unpopular dweebs like you may meet their destiny in here! Are you looking for a girlfriend, too?"

Ignoring the comment and Aerith's barely stifled laughter, I replied with a question of my own. "You know a girl named Tifa?"

"Hey, you're pretty fast!" he responded. "Tifa's our newest girl. But unfortunately, she's having an interview right now."

"An interview for what?" Aerith asked.

"Here at the Honey Bee Inn, it's customary for all the new girls to be taken to Don Corneo's mansion. He's a rather famous dilettante. But now he wants to settle down and is in the market for a bride."

A bride? Just what had Tifa gotten herself into? I wasn't sure, but at least I knew where to look for her. Aerith and I left the Honey Bee Inn and went back the way we'd come from, making our way north toward Corneo's estate. I saw some of his lackeys here and there in the crowds milling all through Wall Market with their distinctive green and yellow uniforms. Everyone else either avoided looking at them or hurried past them as quickly as they could to avoid drawing their attention. And the closer we got to Corneo's mansion, the more of his goons I saw.

It didn't take too long to find the place, and it stood out even more than the rest of the buildings around here. I'm definitely not much of a decorator, I'll be the first to admit it, but even I could see that the man's taste was atrocious. The walls were painted in a hideously bright yellow that was almost fluorescent, mixed in with red trim, and in front of the entrance was a collection of wooden stalls filled with assorted goods. A lone and very bored doorman stood guard nearby.

He perked right up, though, when he saw Aerith, looking at her in ways I didn't care for at all. An icy glare and a not-so-subtle turn to the side to show off Buster's blade got his attention, though, and he backed off almost immediately. Aerith simply sighed and rolled her eyes, and I wasn't sure whether she was going to laugh or frown at me. We started to approach the entrance to the mansion, but we had only walked a few steps before the doorman moved to block us.

"This is the estate of Don Corneo, the most powerful man in Wall Market," he told us, folding his arms in front of his chest and staring at us with suspicion. "Look, the Don's not into men, so don't let me catch you around here again."

Aerith quickly pulled me aside behind one of the stalls and I stood there, fuming in silence as the doorman sneered at me and returned to his post. I had to sit on a sudden and amazingly strong urge to see how far into his face I could put my fist, and only a stern glance from Aerith helped me to calm down. Tifa was in there somewhere, I was sure of it, but I couldn't get in there to look for her simply because I was a man. It was utterly ridiculous and completely infuriating.

"Hey," Aerith whispered. "This looks like the Don's mansion. I'll go check it out and let Tifa know that you're here."

My eyes widened. "No! You can't!"

"Why not?" she asked.

I stared at her. "Do you know… what kind of place this is?"

"Of course I do, Cloud," she said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm a flower girl, not a saint."

I didn't doubt that for a second. Aerith was a lot more worldly than she looked and was smart enough to survive here in the slums without losing who she was, either. But even so, I couldn't help worrying about what would happen if she went into Corneo's mansion alone. Maybe it was just me, but I knew what went on in places like this. It wasn't a safe place for Aerith any more than it was for Tifa, and if she wasn't careful, she could wind up in just as much trouble, if not more.

Aerith put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrow. "So what am I supposed to do? You want to go in with me?"

"Well, what with me being a man and all, that'll make things pretty hard," I told her. "Besides, if I bust my way in there, it'll cause too much commotion. But I can't just let you go in alone, either."

Then I realized Aerith was laughing so hard that tears were leaking from her eyes, and it was all that she could do to keep it quiet. She was almost bent over with the force of it, and I wondered for just a moment if she had gone crazy. I didn't think I'd said anything amusing, so what was going on? Had I missed something?

I gave her a bewildered stare. "What's so funny, Aerith?"

"Cloud," she panted in between a few breathless giggles, "why don't you dress up like a girl? It's the only way."

"_WHAT!?"_ My jaw dropped. Was she _insane?_

Before I could say anything else, Aerith went back to the doorman, a sly smile on her face as she got his attention. "Just wait. I've got a cute friend I want to bring."

"Aerith! I can't!" I protested when she came back.

She shook her head. "You _are_ worried about Tifa, aren't you? Then come on, hurry!"

With a resigned sigh, I let Aerith lead me away from Don Corneo's mansion, more than a little dubious about her crazy plan but knowing I didn't have much choice but to go along with it. As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. It was the only way to get in, and I _was_ worried about Tifa. So as uncomfortable as I was with the idea, I decided that I would go through with it for her sake. Tifa was in some kind of trouble in there, and I wasn't going to let her down.


	12. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - ELEVEN

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**ELEVEN**

It was about half an hour later when Aerith and I returned to Don Corneo's estate, much more prepared now to infiltrate the place. Just as I had earlier, I stood with her behind one of the stalls out of sight of the doorman. I sighed, trying without much success not to think too much about what I was wearing. A purple ankle-length satin dress which the half-drunk owner of a nearby clothing shop had made for me. And on my head sat a blond wig with a pair of long braids hanging from it. The wig had been a prize for winning a squats contest over in the gym, and somehow I'd managed to get my hair inside it.

Aerith had barely been able to keep a straight face when I had first put on my disguise, as I preferred to think of it. And she had just _loved_ putting that makeup on me. Aerith had been giggling at me practically the whole time, and I just knew she was enjoying this immensely. From my shoulder hung a matching purple handbag with my regular clothes inside it, and I had leaned Buster against the stall for the moment, still not sure what to do with it.

I glanced at Aerith, trying to keep my heartbeat in check and not quite succeeding. She had changed her outfit as well, and now she wore a long, alluring dress of dark red silk which left her shoulders bare and nicely accentuated her feminine curves. She had also done up her hair, and it hung loose now in a wide fan down her back, still tied at the top with those two bright pink ribbons and that strange materia nestled in between them. Like me, Aerith had a handbag with her regular clothes stashed inside it slung over one slender shoulder, and she held her staff loosely in her hands.

As incredibly beautiful as Aerith certainly was, I wondered for just a moment how Jessie would look all dressed up like that. I didn't think she would go with red—it didn't really seem to be her color apart from the headband—but whatever Jessie wore, I was sure that she'd look just as beautiful as Aerith. My heart hammered at the thought of it. Maybe, after all this craziness was over and we took that ride together, I'd bring Jess back here and get her a dress of her own.

Shaking off my thoughts, I turned to Aerith. "Ready?"

"Yeah," she answered. "What about you?"

"I'm all set. What about our weapons, though? It'll look suspicious for us to be carrying them."

She frowned, pursing her lips in thought for a moment. "We could probably pass them off as gifts for the Don, then go and get them back after we find out where Tifa is. His men don't look too bright, so I don't think they'll question it."

I didn't like the idea of letting someone else touch my sword, but I supposed it couldn't be helped. We had to get into the mansion and not be discovered at least until we had rescued Tifa. After that, I would cut our way out of there if I had to. I nodded to Aerith, and we walked out from behind the stall toward the entrance of the estate. I did my best to walk the way Aerith had shown me, that graceful stride of hers that she always moved along with, as if she weren't so much walking as floating across the ground like some lovely mirage.

Apparently it was working, because as soon as the doorman caught sight of us, he grinned and let out a low whistle. "Damn! Your friend's hot, too! Come in, come in!"

He opened up the doors and called to someone inside. "Two ladies coming through!"

We went in, and I found that the Don's taste in décor was no better in here than outside. The walls were adorned in garish yellow and red, with bright red carpet upon the floors and a set of stairs off to the right leading up to the second level, where three pairs of double doors stood closed, all made of the same polished red wood. The middle doors also had a large golden circle imprinted on them with writing of some kind. I couldn't make it out from here, but I figured it led to the Don's rooms. I wasn't sure I wanted to know where the others went.

A man in a dark gray suit greeted us. "Hey, ladies. Welcome to the house of Don Corneo. Uh, what are those?"

"Oh, these?" Aerith asked innocently, indicating our weapons. "We brought them for the Don. He has quite a collection, so we've heard, so we thought he'd like these."

He grinned, as dim-witted as we'd hoped. "I'm sure he will, ladies."

"Can we see him now?"

"Oh, sure," the man answered. "I'll go and let the Don know about you. Wait here and don't wander around."

He disappeared into an open doorway behind his desk, leaning our weapons up against the wall next to it as he did so. As much as I would have liked to have taken Buster back, I knew it wasn't time yet. We had to find Tifa first. Aerith led me to the middle of the room and glanced furtively over her shoulder to make sure there was no one else around, then turned back to me.

"Now's our chance," she whispered. "Let's find Tifa."

We had no way to know how long we would be alone, so I hurried up the stairs with Aerith not far behind me. The first room was locked, so we moved on to the next one. That one, as I had guessed, did indeed lead into Corneo's private chambers. The seal on the doors proclaimed as much. We went on, checking the last room, and its doors opened up easily. Inside, a long set of stone steps led down into a thicket of murky shadows. What could be in here?

I hurried down the stairs, worry for Tifa filling my mind, and in a cramped basement at the bottom, I found her. She stood on the far side of an empty torture rack that lay in the middle of the room, and whips and other implements of abuse hung on the stone walls here and there amongst shelves full of assorted implements used for the application of pain. Corneo, it seemed, was an even more sick and demented maniac than I had originally thought.

Tifa stood by herself, her arms folded in front of her, but looked up at me when I started to approach. Suddenly very much aware of how I looked and what I was wearing, I swallowed hard and turned away in a hurry, not wanting Tifa to see me like this. Aerith was there a moment later, however, brushing past me and walking over to Tifa, who looked at both of us in confusion. My cheeks burned in embarrassment, and I couldn't bring myself to even look at her at first. I knew I'd had to wear this thing to get in here, but still…

"Tifa?" Aerith asked. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Aerith. Cloud's told me a lot about you."

Tifa smiled, then blinked suddenly in recognition. "Hey, you're the one who was with Cloud in the park…"

"Right, with Cloud."

"Oh…" Tifa said.

She sighed and looked down at the floor for a moment, apparently disappointed about something. But what that might have been, I didn't know. I was just happy to see her again. I still didn't know what she was doing here, but at least she was safe and unharmed. I intended for it to stay that way. Although I knew better than anyone how well Tifa could take care of herself, I still intended to protect her and get her out of this hellish place as soon as I could.

Aerith shook her head. "Don't worry. We just met. It's nothing."

"What do you mean by that?" Tifa wondered, confused. She shook her head. "No, don't misunderstand me. Cloud and I grew up together. Nothing more."

"Poor Cloud, having to stand here and listen to both of us call him nothing," Aerith giggled. "Right, Cloud?"

"Cloud?" Tifa's eyes widened as she looked at me

Swallowing heavily, I turned to face her fully and let her get a good long look at me. She walked over, hesitantly at first, as if she wasn't sure it was really me. But when she drew closer, Tifa's eyes widened and she gasped. First in astonishment, then in relief. And then before I knew it, she had thrown her arms around me, squeezing me so tightly I thought I would break in two, her head laying upon my shoulder for a moment before she finally let go.

Tifa gazed at me in stunned disbelief, her reddish-brown eyes wide as she saw for the first time what I was wearing. "Why are you dressed like that!? And what are you doing here!? Oh, forget about that! What happened to you after the fall!? Are you hurt!?"

"Slow down, let me answer!" I said, holding my hands out in front of me to halt her avalanche of questions.

"Sorry about that…" she smiled sheepishly at me.

I shrugged, bringing my hands down. "It's alright, Tifa. I'm dressed like this, in this getup, because there was no other way for me to get in here. And I'm fine. Aerith helped me out."

"Oh, I see…" Tifa began.

"She's been great," I nodded. "Anyway, Tifa, what are you doing in a place like this?"

Tifa looked away and sighed. "Yeah, um, about that…"

Taking the hint, Aerith nodded. "Ahem! I'll just plug my ears."

Although I didn't know what was bothering Tifa so much that she wanted to keep it private, I knew she had her reasons. As I walked with Tifa over to one corner of the room, Aerith waited for us at the base of the stairs, her hands covering her ears. I hadn't actually expected her to take what she had said so literally, but then again, Aerith was anything but predictable. That was something else I liked about her. I shook my head in amusement and looked back at Tifa.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she breathed, relief flooding her voice.

"Thanks, Tif," I replied. "I'm glad you are, too. So what happened? Did everyone get back alright?"

She smiled. "Everyone's fine, Cloud. They're all worried about you, even Barret, although he won't admit it. I was going to go with Jessie to look for you, but then something happened that forced me to come out here to Wall Market instead."

"What happened?" I asked, glad to know that Jessie and the others were safe but worried about what Tifa had to say.

Tifa went on. "When we got back to Sector 7, one of the Don's men was there asking people a lot of questions about us. A real creep by the name of Scotch. He was also trying to put the moves on me and Jessie, and even Marlene if you can believe it! I put him in his place, though, and gave him an ass-kicking he's not going to forget."

I grinned at her last statement. "I don't doubt that, Tif. You're even better at it than I am."

"Thanks, Cloud. You're not so bad yourself, you know."

"Well, I try," I teased, and we both laughed.

Tifa stood close to me in her dark blue silk dress, the hem reaching down to just a little above her knees to show off her long and very nice legs. The close-fitting fabric enhanced her more than generous curves, and her long brown hair spilled over her shoulders and down her back like a silken waterfall. For the first time since we had reunited about a month or so ago, I realized how beautiful she was. Why hadn't I seen it sooner? I wanted to tell her, but the words just wouldn't come.

Instead, I just swallowed and went on with our original discussion. "So what happened next?"

Tifa continued. "Barret caught him and managed to squeeze some information from him before we finally drove him off. He didn't tell us much, but what he did say was enough."

"That's when the Don's name popped up," I surmised.

"Right, Don Corneo. Barret told me to leave that lech alone, but… something's been bothering me."

Now I was starting to understand. "I see. So you came here hoping to get some answers out of Corneo."

She nodded, running a hand through her hair and sliding her eyes away from me as she grew strangely self-conscious again. "Well, I made it here, but now I'm stuck. Corneo is looking for a bride. Every day, he gets three girls, chooses one of them, and then… well… anyway, I have to be the… girl for tonight."

So _that_ was how she planned to get Corneo to talk. No wonder she was so nervous. "Tifa, are you sure…?

Before she could answer, though, Aerith spoke up from behind us. Somehow I wasn't the least bit surprised. "Sorry, but I overheard. If you know the three girls, there's no problem, right?"

Tifa shrugged. "I guess so, but…"

"We have two here, right?" Aerith indicated herself and Tifa.

My eyes widened. "No, Aerith! I can't involve you!"

"Oh?" she glared at me, her hands flying to her hips. "So it's alright for Tifa to be in danger? But not me? I thought by now you'd have seen that I can take care of myself, Cloud."

"No, I don't want Tifa in—"

"Is it alright?" Tifa asked, cutting me off as she went to her.

Aerith nodded with a smile. "I grew up in the slums, Tifa. I'm used to danger. Do you trust me?"

"Yes, I do. Thank you, Aerith."

"Heeey!" a voice from up near the top of the stairs suddenly called out. It was the man from earlier. "It's time, ladies. The Don is waiting. I told ya not to wander around. I tell ya, women nowadays… Hurry up, will ya? We ain't got all night!"

As Tifa and Aerith both waited for me at the bottom of the stairs, I sighed, not liking Aerith's plan at all but knowing that we didn't have a choice if we wanted to find out what Corneo was hiding. I glanced over at the girls, a sinking feeling in my stomach as I understood the rest of what Aerith had in mind. "I guess I don't really need to ask this, but… the other girl is… me… right?"

Tifa smirked at me. "You're right, you didn't need…"

"… to ask," Aerith finished, a matching grin on her face.

* * *

Just a few minutes later, we entered Don Corneo's spacious office. I stood with Cloud and Aerith before the man's huge desk, a long, finely woven rug showing two intertwined green dragons adorning the floor beneath our feet. It stretched all the way from the door to the polished wooden desk. Behind it, the door to the Don's bedchamber stood open. I swallowed, still a little nervous about all this, but a reassuring glance from Cloud helped me to steady myself.

Behind the desk sat Don Corneo himself. He was a bit shorter than I had expected, wearing a long red coat over a white buttoned shirt and faded jeans. A golden belt buckle shone at his waist, and a narrow strip of blond hair with a few streaks of gray sat on his otherwise bald head. He also wore a pair of studded earrings and a golden medallion around his neck, and a wisp of smoke drifted up from the cigar tucked into the corner of his wide mouth. A small tattoo of a pink heart with the word "love" just above it was etched into the left side of his head, and a thin, curling mustache covered his upper lip.

On either side of Corneo stood his two lieutenants. Scotch, whose unpleasant acquaintance I had already made back in the slums, was on his left. He didn't seem to have recognized me, however, and I was glad for that. The last thing that we needed was for my cover to be blown if he remembered who I was. The other goon, the one on Corneo's right, was a dark-skinned young man in blue jeans and a sleeveless red jacket with his hair done in a bleached blond mohawk. Kotch was his name, I remembered. He had taken me down to Corneo's dungeon to wait after I had first arrived here.

"Alright, ladies!" Kotch ordered. "Line up in front of the Don!"

We did as he had instructed, Aerith on the far left side with Cloud in the middle and myself on the right. Corneo practically jumped over the top of his desk to reach us, and he walked back and forth across the room, ogling us every step of the way and looking us over one by one as if we were items on a store shelf instead of people. It was disgusting, and I had to force myself to smile seductively instead of knocking him to the floor right then and there. I nearly gagged when his gaze roamed all over me and he started undressing me with those beady eyes of his. It makes me sick just thinking about it.

"Good! Splendid!" he said, leering hungrily at us. "Now, let's see… Which girl should I choose?"

He looked at us each in turn again, mumbling to himself as he did. I noticed that Cloud wouldn't look him directly in the eye, and I had to stifle a laugh. His outfit was actually pretty convincing, and I thought it was so sweet that he'd been willing to suffer through something I knew was incredibly uncomfortable and embarrassing for him just to rescue me. Even though I could protect myself well enough, I still appreciated it and was glad he was here. I couldn't help wondering what Barret and the others would think if they saw him, though.

Aerith seemed a lot more composed and sure of herself than I had thought she would be, given the circumstances, but then again, she had told me that she'd grown up in the slums, and I knew that couldn't have been easy. Although I couldn't quite suppress a small ember of jealousy over the time she had spent alone with Cloud, I was also grateful to her and hoped that we could become friends.

She had come in here with him to help me, someone she had never met before. How many people would do that, let alone for a stranger? I knew it couldn't have been many, and I wanted to help her in return if I could. Aerith smiled invitingly at the Don as he looked her over again, and she played her part so well and so convincingly I almost thought for a moment that she really did want him.

Apparently, so did he. Don Corneo grinned eagerly, stood in front of Aerith, and spread his arms out wide. "Woo-hoo! I've made up my mind! My choice for tonight is this slender little girl!"

"Don, you've got great taste," Aerith purred.

"You can have the rest!" he said to Kotch and Scotch. Their faces lit up with undisguised greed and lust, and I shuddered in spite of myself. How many women had they preyed upon like this?

They both saluted. "Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!"

"Shall we go, my pretty?" Corneo leered at Aerith. She smiled coyly and followed him into his room.

When they were gone, Kotch and Scotch led Cloud and I out of the office and back into the hall. While Scotch took Cloud to the room on the right, Kotch beckoned me towards the basement. I did as he asked, heading back down the dank stone steps until we reached the bottom. I tensed, knowing exactly what was coming next, but with a plan already in my mind. I turned around to face him as we neared the torture rack standing in the middle of the room. With my heart pounding, I braced myself for what I had to do.

Kotch let his dark eyes rove over me, and while he did, I slid closer to him, weaving sinuously until I was standing almost right up against his lean body. I tugged at the diamond-shaped opening on the front of my dress, pulling on the sides to give him a better look at my cleavage. When he bent his head down to take in the view, his lips parting into a hungry grin, I let go, clasped both of my hands together above me, and slammed my joined fists down right onto the back of Kotch's skull. He dropped to the floor like a deadweight, out cold.

I knelt for a moment and flashed him a grin of my own. "Sorry, but what I have isn't for you."

Kicking off my high heels, I ran up the stairs to find Cloud.

* * *

"Hey, guys!" Scotch called out as I went with him inside the room. "We've got a guest!"

There were five or six thugs in here, and they all looked greedily at me, their hunger unmistakable. I shivered, not liking it one bit. I'd had a few whistles and stares turned my way since I'd put on this getup, and I found my respect for both Aerith and Tifa growing considerably now that I understood firsthand what they had always had to put up with as women. It was definitely a learning experience.

I walked into the middle of the broad L-shaped room, not meeting anyone's gaze yet. The place had a couple of tables and chairs, assorted pillows and papers scattered everywhere, and a television set sitting in one corner. Another door on the opposite wall stood open and led to a bathroom. An idea came to mind then as I remembered the handbag I was holding. It would be hard to fight in this outfit, and I knew I wasn't going to get out of here any other way.

Scotch grinned at me. "We'll take _real_ good care of you!"

"I'm sure," I told him in the most feminine voice I could manage. It seemed to work well enough. "But I'd like to freshen up first. And then we can start. How does that sound?"

"Sure, just don't take too long. So, uh… you got a name?"

I thought for a moment. "Claire."

Scotch ran his hand along my arm, and I had to remind myself not to grab it and see how much of a knot I could twist it into. "I kinda like that, Claire. I like it a lot, ya know?"

"Well, if you'll just excuse me for a minute…"

I hurried into the bathroom before Scotch could say anything else, then closed the door behind me and locked it. Opening my handbag, I grabbed my SOLDIER uniform, took off the wig, and changed clothes as fast as I could. I knew I couldn't take long, otherwise Scotch and his buddies would start getting suspicious. I was just washing the makeup off my face when there was a loud bang on the door.

It was Scotch, annoyed now. "Hey, what's wrong, Claire? You want me to keep you company?"

"I'm flattered," I replied, still using that feminine voice as I quickly wiped myself dry with a towel, "but no thanks."

"Why not?" he demanded, banging on the door again.

Unlocking it, I threw it open and hurled the dress at him. "Because I ain't interested in a bunch of scrubs like you!"

Scotch's eyes widened as he caught it, trembling in rage and staring at me in disbelief. "Wha… a man!? Goddamn it! Don't think you'll get outta this! Get him! Beat the shit out of him!"

The thugs charged at me, but I was ready for them. I did a forward somersault, flipping right over them to land on top of one of the tables, and brought up my fists as they spun around and charged toward me. I kicked one of them in the face, and he flew across the room, sprawling onto his back. Martial arts wasn't my specialty the way it was for Tifa, but I had some experience from my fights in Nibelheim, so I went at it, catching another of the goons with a backhand punch to the jaw and a third with a left hook that spun him around almost in a complete circle before he collapsed to the floor.

"C'mon, what's the hell's the matter with you!?" Scotch snarled. "I'll show you how it's done!"

Before he could, though, the double doors leading into the hallway suddenly flew open with a bang and Tifa raced in, Buster in her hands. She tossed it to me, and I caught it easily, spinning it in a circle over my head before bringing it down into a ready position in both hands while Tifa raised her fists. She smirked at Scotch and the two thugs on either side of him as they quickly stumbled away from us. "I thought I'd crash the party, boys. Mind if I join you?"

One of the goons took one look at us, raced past Tifa out the door, and dove over the railing. After landing with a loud thump, he hobbled outside, slamming the front door behind him. The other goon brought up a lead pipe and swung it wildly at Tifa, but she dodged it easily and slammed his side with a quick string of jabs and punches that sent him staggering backwards. Scotch turned in my direction and slashed with a bladed gunsword almost like a bayonet, slashing madly. I parried the attack, metal clanging on metal, and kicked him in the stomach before jumping off the table after him.

He fired his weapon, but I whipped up Buster just in time to block the shots, and the bullets clattered harmlessly onto the floor. I glanced over as Tifa dropped the other thug with a low sweep kick that took his feet out from under him, then when he stood up, she backhanded him across the face, dropping him down to the floor yet again. This time he stayed down. As she was finishing him, Scotch turned his gunsword to aim it at her, but I was faster. I sliced Buster across the barrel and drove him back, slamming him against the wall as Tifa came over to join me, her fists up and more than ready.

She flicked one of them in a twisting motion and smiled darkly at Scotch. "Remember me?"

"Oh, _shit_…" he breathed.

He tried to stab her with the long, narrow blade of his weapon, but that was a mistake. His last, I might add. As Tifa spun out of the way, I sliced him with a sidelong slash that tore open his midsection, and his gunsword clattered harmlessly to the floor. As he stood there gaping at her, Tifa slammed her foot squarely into the middle of his chest before he could fall and sent him flying through the window behind him into the alley below along with a shower of broken glass.

I glanced at her. "Nice kick. You okay?"

"Of course!" Tifa grinned at me, pumping her fist. "If you take me lightly, you're gonna pay for it!"

"He obviously did."

Tifa nodded, finally relaxing a bit. "I just can't stand men like him. But enough about that. Give me a minute to get changed and then we'll help Aerith. I know we don't have a lot of time, but I've gotta get out of this thing. Who knows where we'll end up next?"

Stepping into the hall, Tifa retrieved her handbag, then came back inside and entered the bathroom, closing the door behind her. It didn't take long. A moment later, she opened the door again and walked back out in her normal clothes, the sleeveless white shirt and black miniskirt with her black boots and red leather fighting gloves. We hurried out of the room, picking up Aerith's slender mythril staff from where Tifa had left it near the door, and raced into Don Corneo's office.


	13. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - TWELVE

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**TWELVE**

"No, that's not what I meant!" Aerith's voice was a mixture of panic and rage as we burst into the Don's office, the double doors flying open with a bang. _"NO, STOP! _Just, just wait a second!"

My eyes found them at once, in Corneo's bed, and immediately my blood boiled as if it had been set on fire. He was lying on top of her, his hands tugging frantically at her dress as she struggled beneath him and his hips grinding against hers. Aerith ducked her head to one side and then the other as Corneo tried to kiss her. All he was wearing now was his shirt, which was completely unbuttoned, and he was busy trying to undress Aerith when Tifa and I ran in.

Corneo stopped and looked up when he heard us, and the moment he did, Aerith slammed her fist into his jaw. When Corneo flew back, snarling in pain and rage, I seized him by the shoulders and threw him off her, hurling him flat onto the mattress. He smashed his head on the headboard and looked up to find me standing next to the bed with my sword pointed right at him. I glanced over at Aerith as Tifa helped her up. "Are you okay, Aerith? Did he…?"

"No, he didn't get that far," Aerith shook her head and managed to give me a weak smile. "I'm alright. Thanks, Cloud."

Her long hair was all tangled and unkempt from Corneo's frenzied but futile attempts at passion, and her pink ribbons lay upon the sheets where he must have yanked them out and carelessly tossed them aside. That strange materia of hers glittered from where it had rolled onto the floor near her shoes, and her red dress was now a ruined mess that was torn in places with one shoulder strap hanging broken and useless. But in spite of all that, Aerith appeared to be alright. I still hated what Don Corneo had done to her, though.

I sighed. "I should have gotten here sooner."

"Cloud, don't start," Aerith raised an eyebrow as she picked up her things. "You came, and that's all that matters. So don't beat yourself up about it. You either, Tifa. I knew what I was getting into."

Tifa opened her mouth to protest and then shut it again right away. Aerith had read her perfectly, and I couldn't deny that she had a point. She had known the risks involved in coming here. What had happened wasn't Tifa's fault any more than it was mine. Aerith was a little shaken but otherwise unhurt, and that was the only thing that really mattered. Tifa must have been thinking that as well, because after a moment, she nodded and gave her a small smile.

"What the hell?" Don Corneo stammered. "Who's there? Who the hell are you people?"

Tifa glared at him. "Shut up! We're asking the questions now."

While Aerith went inside Corneo's bathroom to get changed, I kept Buster trained on our captive. He had pulled his blankets over his waist in order to cover himself up, and his frantic gaze darted back and forth between me, Tifa, and Buster. A moment later, Aerith walked back out, looking more relaxed now, more like herself. She was wearing her long pink dress and red jacket again, and she had fixed her hair, brushing it and tying it neatly back into the thick braid she liked. Her materia was nestled back into its normal place between the two ribbons as her eyes looked stonily at Corneo. "I'm sorry, Don."

After handing Aerith her staff, Tifa turned back to the Don. "What did your assistants find out? Why did you send Scotch over to Sector 7 to find Barret? Talk! If you don't tell us…"

"I'll chop it off," I promised, lowering Buster so that it hovered just above the man's groin.

His eyes bulged in their sockets. "No! Not that! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything! I made 'em find out where the man with the gun-arm was. But that's what I was ordered to do."

"By who?" Tifa demanded

"No! If I told you that, I'd be killed!"

Tifa's gaze didn't waver. "Talk! If you don't tell us…"

"I'll rip it off," Aerith snapped, leaning toward him and putting her foot on the edge of the bed.

Now Don Corneo was sweating. It ran in rivulets down the sides of his round, pudgy face. "It was Heidegger of Shinra! Heidegger, head of the Peace Preservation Division!"

"The head of Peace Preservation!?" I breathed. This was far worse than I'd thought.

So Shinra already knew we had escaped from Reactor 5. I wasn't all that surprised, but worry gnawed at me nonetheless for the others, and I wanted to get back to them now even more. And if Heidegger was in charge, then whatever Shinra was planning had to be big. Very big and very, very ugly. I swallowed hard, not wanting to know what it was but at the same time needing to find out. I tightened my grip upon Buster's hilt and hoped we could get more answers out of Corneo.

"Did you say the Shinra!?" Tifa said. "What are they up to!? Talk! If you don't tell us, I'll smash it!"

She clenched her fist, and Don Corneo shuddered. "You're serious, aren't you? Oh, boy. But I'm not fooling around here, either, you know. Shinra's trying to crush a small rebel group called AVALANCHE. And they're really going to crush them. Literally. By breaking the supports holding up the plate above them."

"Break the supports?" Tifa staggered back, her eyes wide.

"You know what's going to happen? The plate's gonna go _ping!_ And everything's gonna go _bammm!_ I discovered that their hideout's in the Sector 7 slums. I'm just glad it's not here in Sector 6."

Tifa's jaw hung open, and she started to tremble. "They're going to wipe out the Sector 7 slums!?"

"All those people…" Aerith gasped.

"Cloud!" Tifa turned to me, desperation filling her eyes and voice. "Will you come with me to Sector 7?"

I nodded. "Of course. I'm with you, Tifa."

My heart was pounding in the wake of Corneo's terrible revelation, fear suddenly swirling through me like a maelstrom. I wasn't afraid for myself, but for the others, especially Jessie. Ignoring the Don, I hurried toward the doors, the girls just behind me.

But as we reached the front of the Don's bed, he spoke again, more confidently this time. I was so intent on getting the hell out of here and hurrying back to Sector 7 to save Jessie and stop Shinra from dropping the plate that I overlooked the interior alarm bell that suddenly rang in my mind the instant I heard Don Corneo start talking.

"Just a second!" he called out, his voice sly.

I whirled on him. "Shut up!"

"No, wait, it'll only take a second. Why do you think I told you all the truth? One: Because I've given up on life. Two: Because I'm sure I'll win. Or three: Because I'm clueless. So, what's your answer?"

"Three," I sighed.

He sneered at us and quickly hit a secret button on the headboard. "Close, but no cigar!"

Before any of us could take a step, a trapdoor suddenly opened up beneath our feet, and we fell with startled cries into a darkened chute. Only minutes later, we splashed into a shallow channel of murky water, and a quick look around told me we'd landed down in the sewers. That and the smell. Mako mixed with sewage is _not_ a pleasant odor, believe me. There wasn't very much light, just a dim glow from a few scattered bulbs on the walls here and there. The girls were nearby, both on their knees and apparently still in one piece.

"You alright?" I asked, helping Aerith up.

She smiled her thanks. "Yeah."

"Man, this is terrible!" Tifa grimaced as I went to her and took her arm. "I think I'll be in the shower for a week!"

"Well," Aerith shrugged. "At least the worst is over."

No sooner had she spoken, though, than there was a low growl and the shuffling of something large, muscular, and dangerous splashing its way toward us. I brought up my sword but couldn't make anything out at first. Tifa had her fists ready, and Aerith grasped her staff, her green eyes alert. When the monstrous thing finally showed itself, she blinked in astonishment and shook her head.

"Maybe not…"

* * *

At this time, I was on the 70th floor of the Shinra building, standing before President Shinra's wide, polished desk and trying desperately to talk him out of this horrific plan. I had to clench my fists at my sides to keep myself under control as Heidegger walked up, a smug smile upon that bearded face of his. I absolutely loathed that man and could never understand his callous disregard for others. All Heidegger cared about was himself and his own power.

"How are the preparations going?" the president asked.

Heidegger saluted, laughing in that hideous equine way he so often did. "Smoothly, very smoothly! I assigned the Turks to this."

"President!" I said, still unable to believe this was happening. "Are we really going to do this? Destroy an entire city sector simply to wipe out a group with only a few members?"

"What's the problem, Reeve?" he glanced at me and took a puff on his cigar. "You want out?"

I sighed and shook my head. "No. But I _am_ in charge of the Urban Development Division. Because of this, I have been deeply involved in the building and running of Midgar. I don't want to see the city and its people suffer any further."

Heidegger laughed again and sneered. "Reeve, flush your personal problems along with the rest of your crap!"

"Might I remind you, Heidegger, that your daughter is also part of that group?" I pointed out. "If you go through with this, she'll be killed along with everyone else. Is that what you want?"

"She's made her choice, Reeve! Now she'll pay for it along with the rest of those sewer rats she calls friends!"

I stared at him, unable to believe what I had just heard. "You… you would… kill your own daughter?"

I hadn't thought even Heidegger capable of such heartlessness, but I was wrong. Then I remembered what Jessica had entrusted to me, the files and other evidence that she had found proving that her father had murdered his own wife and so many other people in that train accident late last year along with his responsibility for the incident in Reactor 3. I hadn't wanted to believe that he would go this far, but now I realized I couldn't afford to make such assumptions.

Heidegger shrugged. "She had her chance to leave. She refused."

_As if that makes it right._ I stood there, hating him more now than I ever had and wishing that there was a way I could force his hand. And then an idea came to mind. It was time to use what I had been given. "I know you were behind the malfunctions in Reactor 3 and the Sector 6 train crash, Heidegger. If you don't rescind those orders to the Turks at once, I'll see to it every news station in town has the story by tonight. You'll be finished. The president won't allow the company's image to be tarnished, and this would destroy it beyond repair."

"And how do you plan on proving it?" he snarled, his bearded face turning a rather satisfying shade of red.

"Let's just say my evidence comes from a very reliable source."

Heidegger stood there fuming, but before he could reply, President Shinra cut in. "That will be enough, Reeve. The plan will go forward as scheduled. And the details of the incidents you mentioned will remain classified until further notice."

"But, sir!" I protested, whirling on him.

Heidegger's smug grin was just infuriating, as was that damn horse laugh. "You lost, Reeve. Get over it!"

I sighed, trying one last time. "The mayor's against this, anyway…"

"Mayor?" Heidegger snorted. "He just sits in this building all day feeding his face! You still call that a mayor, Reeve? Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do!"

He saluted the president and left. I watched him go as I stood there shaking with barely restrained rage. I hated him, and I hated myself for being so helpless. Despite everything I had tried, the Sector 7 plate was still going to come down. _Amanda, I'm so sorry. I fought so hard to keep your daughter safe, like I promised you. But now…_ More than anything, I wished there was some way I could change things here, a way I could make things better for Jessica and everyone else in this city.

Although I didn't like how AVALANCHE did things, I understood why they had struck against us and why Jessica had joined them. There were plenty of things about Shinra I hated, too, but I didn't believe that violence was the answer. But neither did I believe that killing them and so many other innocent people was right, either. I knew AVALANCHE could have been held responsible for their actions without such death, including their own. But although I hated it, my colleagues didn't share my beliefs, leaving me helpless to stop what was coming.

President Shinra walked around his desk and put a hand upon my shoulder, but his gaze showed as much sympathy and compassion as a hungry shark. "You know the mako is drying up. We can't keep the city powered for much longer at this rate. So we just have to sacrifice a few thousand people to save thousands more. It's for the greater good. You might want to remember that."

"The greater good?" I wondered, very much doubting that.

"You look tired, Reeve. Why don't you take a couple of days off and go somewhere?"

Ignoring the implicit threat, I stormed out of the office and headed into the main elevator. As the lift descended, however, an idea came to me. I had driven Jessica down to the slums in the first place, so maybe I could find her and drive her back up here and also try to get as many other people to leave the area as I could. There wasn't much time, so as soon as I reached the first floor, I ran outside, jumped into my car, and drove to Sector 7, praying I wouldn't be too late.

* * *

The beast was huge, with a tough turquoise hide, a lashing tail, two curved black horns sprouting from its head, and muscled arms as thick as tree trunks. Around its thick wrists hung a set of broken chains, and its beady yellow eyes glared hungrily at us from above a gaping mouth filled with sharp teeth like razors. The word "Aps" was tattooed into its thick skin, and it barreled toward us with surprising speed, closing the distance in mere seconds as it splashed its way down the sewer channel and swung its massive fists at us.

Ducking beneath its swinging arms, I dove into a forward roll and slammed my foot into the beast's knee as Cloud slashed at its side with his sword and Aerith let loose with a burst of cold right in its ugly face. The thing roared, staggering backwards as it snarled in pain. It jumped up and drove both its fists into the water, sending huge waves of muck splashing at us. I leaped up over the top of them as Cloud did the same, both of us flipping over in midair.

As I descended, I struck with a hard, swift kick right to the chest of the monster Corneo called Aps as Cloud used the momentum from his own descent to slice his sword into the thing's shoulder. A quick glance behind me as I landed showed me that Aerith had hopped up onto the concrete walk on the right side of the channel to avoid the waves. She unleashed more of her ice magic, hitting Aps in the chest this time as I spun to the left to dodge a descending fist and returned the favor with my own, hitting Aps with a series of quick punches.

The beast roared in pain, then smashed its arms at Cloud, sending him flying onto his back. He brought his sword up just in time, holding it out in front of him like a shield as Aps showered him with blow after blow. I charged at the thing, jumped up onto its hunched back, and hit it with a string of punches and kicks into its spine while Aerith kept on blasting Aps with her ice spells and smacking it with her staff. Leaping straight up into the air, I did a complete flip and jammed my feet down one after the other right into the monster's ribs in a pair of swift kicks. There was a loud crack as its bones broke, and the beast's roar this time was louder than before, rattling my eardrums, but its reaction was fast, much faster than I had anticipated.

Before I knew what was happening, Aps rose up, grabbed me with one huge hand, and threw me right into the nearby wall, shattering the damp ceramic tiles with the force of the impact and filling the air with dust and debris. My back struck it hard, and pain exploded throughout my body. I coughed and let out a startled gasp as I fell to the floor, and as I rose up onto my hands and knees, I saw Aps charging toward me. I struggled to stand, but the pain made it too hard. Every time I tried to straighten up, I wanted to scream.

Then Cloud was there, hitting the beast with three quick crosswise slashes that left glowing lines of energy in their wake for just a moment before they finally disappeared. Aps froze, suddenly unable to move as the power of Cloud's attack left it totally paralyzed. While he seized the opportunity and sliced at Corneo's pet again and again, Aerith hurried to me, concern on her face as I still fought to get back to my feet. Then I remembered the Cure materia embedded into my glove. I tried to use it, but the pain was too much. I couldn't concentrate to bring forth the magic, and the spell fizzled out before I could finish casting it. But then I felt Aerith's hand on my shoulder.

"Here, let me help," she said, kneeling next to me.

I nodded, taking the materia out of my glove and handing it to her. She fit it into an empty slot on her staff, then cast the spell. Sparkles of green energy surrounded me, and then the pain began to fade away as my injuries healed. It still hurt a little bit, but not enough to bother me anymore. I stood up and smiled. "Thanks, Aerith."

"No problem. You want this back?" she indicated the Cure materia.

I shook my head. "Why don't you hold onto it for now?"

She agreed, and we turned back to face Corneo's monstrous pet. It was moving again, but more slowly now, injured and bleeding in over a dozen places. I raced in, throwing a few more punches before hitting it with a high, spinning roundhouse kick that sent the creature stumbling off balance. Cloud took advantage of the opening with a series of quick cuts across monster's chest and arms as it shuddered under the impact of another of Aerith's blizzard spells, barbs of frost biting relentlessly at its leathery hide. The beast lurched forward, grabbing at me and trying to bite me in two, but it overcompensated and missed, leaving me with a perfect shot at its ugly head, one I wasn't going to miss.

I grinned. "Gotcha now!"

Setting myself up with my arms out wide to either side, I dashed in as fast as I could and did a blazing somersault kick to the monster's jaw. I felt bone shattering at the impact, and as I landed, I saw Aps fall onto its back and roar in pain. Before it could get up, Cloud leaped high into the air and slammed his sword down right onto the creature's chest in a vicious overhead chop that clove its heart in two. Aps twitched and lay still, lifeless and unmoving, in the murky water as quiet settled over the sewers like a heavy blanket.

I felt a soft, soothing breeze whispering around me, and the rest of the pain from my injuries disappeared. I looked up to see a pale, milky white light glowing just above Aerith's outstretched fingers, and then a moment later it was gone, the wind sweeping over herself and Cloud as well before dissipating. In the sudden stillness, I suddenly remembered all the terrible things we had found out from Don Corneo, and a wave of despair crashed over me so quickly and so completely I could barely breathe. My legs buckled, and found myself sinking to my knees again and holding myself. How could we possibly get there in time? Was the pillar still standing? It might have already come down, for all we knew. Was anyone even still alive?

"It's too late…" I breathed, unable to fight my sudden hopelessness. "Marlene… Barret… the people of the slums…"

Aerith was there in an instant, however, gently helping me get back to my feet and holding me by the shoulders. She looked me right in the eye when she spoke, her gaze firm and unyielding. "Don't give up, Tifa! Never give up hope! Never! It's not easy to destroy the pillar, right? We can still stop this from happening."

As if her touch had driven it away, I felt the crushing weight of my despair lift and disappear. Aerith was right. What had come over me? I shook off my doubts and nodded firmly, taking her shoulders in return and drawing strength from her. Aerith pulled me into a brief hug, and I returned it gladly, grateful for her help and encouragement. It seemed like she knew how to heal more than just the body.

Feeling greatly renewed, I let go of my new friend, and we shared a determined glance. "Yeah, you're right, Aerith. We still have time! Let's go! And… thank you."

With Cloud leading the way, we ran through the sewers, climbing up a short set of stairs that led up out of the channel and onto the ledge running alongside it. I was glad to be out of the water, and we had just reached the top when I noticed a sparkle of yellow out of the corner of my eye. Signaling the others to wait a moment, I turned and went over to the far corner where a small yellow materia orb lay on the floor near a metal grate covered in grime.

I picked it up and gazed intently at it as I focused upon the energy pulsing inside it. A moment later, I sensed it was a Steal materia. Some monsters and machines carry useful items that, if you're quick enough, you can snatch before their owner even knew you'd done it. Of course, anyone can try to steal things. But what the materia does is, it enhances your speed and agility to make it easier, until you can eventually move so fast that you can attack and steal at same time. Naturally, the thieves and thugs down in the slums love materia like this, though fortunately not very many of them know how to use it.

A moment later, we saw a small opening in the floor where a metal ladder slick with moisture from the clammy air in here descended into the gloom. The passage we were standing in ended a few feet away in a blank wall, so we climbed down the ladder and into another section of the sewers. The unpleasant smell of waste and mako mingling together wasn't quite as bad down here, although it did still make my lip curl in disgust when it hit my nose.

We hurried on down the tunnel, staying out of the water where we could, and before long we found a second ladder, this one leading high up to the ceiling and out of the sewers. I breathed a sigh of relief at the welcome sight, but before we could go any further, there was a sudden series of splashes behind us as about a half dozen turtle-like creatures suddenly leaped out from under the water, each of them brandishing a trident as they charged toward us.

While Aerith focused and let loose with her ice magic, Cloud and I rushed in, his massive sword and my fists making a lethal combination that quickly drove the sahagins back. Laying into one with a few quick jabs, I sent it flying away with a brutal uppercut into its jaw. Beside me, Cloud took down another sahagin after parrying a hard blow from one of those tridents. We fought back-to-back as Aerith alternated between slinging frigid shards of ice and cold at the sahagins and crushing them with skillful, spinning blows from her staff.

Ducking under the swinging trident of the sahagin I was fighting, I decided to try out my new materia. I saw the leather pouch hanging on the thing's belt, and maybe something useful inside. I concentrated for a minute, and then with a quick flash of yellow light, I darted my hand in so fast that my arm was little more than a blur of motion as I moved. My fingers latched onto a potion and yanked it away.

Then it was over, the sahagins either dead or routed, and we found ourselves alone again. Not wasting any time, we hurried up the ladder, none of us caring where it led as long as it was out of here. It didn't take very long to reach the top, and as Cloud pushed off the manhole cover above us and climbed outside, I felt a light breeze brush past my face. I breathed in the fresh air deeply and followed after Aerith until we both stood together on the ground outside with Cloud. We glanced around, taking in our surroundings, and a shiver suddenly raced through me as I finally saw where we had emerged.

We were in the middle of the Train Graveyard.

I'd heard many stories about the place, and while I wasn't sure how much I believed them, I still couldn't help feeling uneasy as I glanced at the abandoned husks of countless wrecked trains. An eerie quiet hung in the air, a stillness I found I didn't much like. The graveyard stretched across endless rows of rusting, crisscrossing tracks while overhead, the plate frowned at us, and I could almost feel its immense weight bearing down on me. Cloud glanced over at Aerith, his concern for her evident on his face. "Aerith, I got you mixed up in all this…"

"Don't tell me to go home," she said, her voice and narrowed green eyes leaving no room for argument.

Cloud nodded. "Alright. So how do we get back to Sector 7 and the pillar from here?"

"If we can just get past these trains," I answered, "we should be able to get out of here. The station is just past the outer edge of this place. I don't think it's that far."

We started moving, climbing over the tops of the trains where they blocked the path or hurrying through their abandoned carcasses. None of us spoke. There wasn't any need for words. We all knew what we had to do and how much was at stake. Here and there as we went, I thought I saw something hovering out there in the dark, but whenever I tried to get a better look at it, it faded away so quickly that I had to wonder if I wasn't imagining things. It couldn't be ghosts. Could it?

We were almost through when they appeared right in front of us, a trio of white, translucent figures that floated silently above the ground. One of them gestured at me, and I gasped and doubled over, clutching myself and feeling weaker, drained as though some of my strength had just been stolen from me. I grimaced and lashed out at the spirit with a few quick punches in response, but I hit only air as the ghost vanished before coming back a second later.

A peal of thunder suddenly shattered the silence as forks of bright blue lightning struck at the shadowy spirits, and I heard their wounded screams echoing in my mind as Cloud lowered his arms in the wake of the spell. Then I felt my strength return as Aerith used her Cure magic to restore me. This time, when I struck one of the ghosts with a pair of spinning kicks, it screeched and dissipated like fog ripped apart by the morning sun and didn't come back.

We finished off the other two ghosts, our spells and attacks making quick work of them, and then we moved on. It was only a few minutes later that we reached the train station, and I saw that the attendant was still there at his post. I couldn't remember ever having seen him leave it in all the years I had lived in Midgar. What was his name? It had never even occurred to me to ask him. I had passed by him so many times on my way to other places, but now I couldn't.

I went to him instead. "You should go. It's dangerous here now."

"I know, ma'am," he said. "I heard a rumor that the plate is going to fall, crushing this station I've worked at for so long. But I just can't bear to leave. I've seen a lot over the years, so many comings and goings, so much emotion, and so many hard things. I know what's coming, but… I don't want be anywhere else."

"What's your name?" I asked softly.

He smiled. "Jenkins, ma'am. Tom Jenkins. No one's ever asked me that before."

Blinking back sudden tears, I hugged him. "We'll stop this thing if we can, Tom. I promise. And then you can come to the bar with us and tell us your stories."

"Thank you, miss. I think I'd like that."

Stepping off the platform, I waved to him and rejoined the others. Tom nodded, waved back, and stayed where he was, where he'd always been. My fists tightened in resolve, and I swore to myself I would save him and all the other people here, that I wouldn't allow Shinra to carry out their terrible plan and claim so many innocent lives. I saw my own determination reflected Cloud and Aerith's eyes. They knew it too, had made the exact same promise to themselves that I had. We had to stop Shinra. We had to save Sector 7.

Free of doubt and despair, I ran with my friends to the pillar.


	14. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - THIRTEEN

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**THIRTEEN**

I pulled up next to the Sector 7 station, hoping that the trains were still running and that I could still get down there before Shinra's forces shut them down. I had attempted to go on the highway first, but all the roads that descended down to the slums in this area had been blocked off. I swallowed as I got out of the car and hurried to the station's main entrance, not liking how crowded it looked.

A moment later, I found out why.

Shinra soldiers stood all along the length of the platform, weapons in hand as dozens of troops boarded the train behind them and crowds of disgruntled would-be passengers milled about the area, complaining and looking none too happy about Shinra commandeering the train to get their troops to the slums. But why? Heidegger had already sent one detachment earlier. It didn't make sense.

I went over to one of the officers. "What's going on here?"

"Sir!" he saluted. "General Heidegger gave orders that more troops were to be sent to secure the pillar."

"Why are all the other trains locked down?"

"He also ordered that all entrances and exits to Sector 7 were to be blocked off until further notice," the officer said, "and all trains bound for that area to return to the station immediately."

_That bastard!_ Heidegger wouldn't even let people try to get out. He was completely cutting them off, and they had no idea what was going to happen. I scratched the thin beard on my chin, not liking what I had heard and trying to figure out what do to next. I was the head of Urban Development, one of Shinra's top officials, and I had to use that power somehow to save as many people as I could.

As much as I hated it, I knew that I couldn't reach Jessica now. And I knew there was more than just her life at stake here. Although unlike Heidegger, I wasn't in the military, as one of Shinra's top officials, I did have some authority to command these men. And while unfortunately I didn't have the power to countermand Heidegger's orders, I could still add some of my own to go along with them.

I stared at the officer in front of me. "I want you to have as many of your men as you can head into Sector 7 and start evacuating people as soon as possible. I know the slums are blocked off now, but we can still help the people here on the plate. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" he saluted.

While the city's civilian population could no longer enter or leave Sector 7, at least up here on the plate, Shinra's troops weren't bound by that constraint. I was counting on it and hoped that by diverting some of the soldiers, it would delay the dropping of the plate and allow us to save as many people as we could.

Satisfied that the officer and his men would follow my orders, I left the station and got back into my car. The next thing I had do was to get inside Sector 7 myself and start moving people out while there was still time. There was an entrance not far from here, so I pulled out of the lot and drove away, hoping I wasn't already too late.

* * *

A small crowd of people was clustered just outside the fence by the pillar when I ran into the area, Tifa and Aerith on either side. I stopped short when I suddenly heard a sound that I'd been both expecting and dreading. It wasn't far above us, a noise that was so terrifyingly familiar that it sent my heartbeat into overdrive and ratcheted up my anxiety to a new level. The girls heard it as well and stopped for just a moment to listen, their faces pale but determined as they stood nearby. I looked at them. "You hear something above us?"

Aerith's emerald eyes widened. "Gunfire?"

We all looked up to see bright, rapid bursts of light and sound that could only have been muzzle flashes erupting here and there along the metal stairs that led all the way up to the pillar controls. Barret and the others were up there somewhere, up there fighting to protect the pillar from Shinra's assault forces. But circling around the stairs was a Shinra attack chopper, and over a dozen or so smaller shapes flew closer to the stairs, firing and slashing at whoever was nearby. Several of the shapes exploded in bright orange puffs of flame, but more still remained. How long could Barret and the others hold out?

I was about to race through the open gate and up the stairs when a familiar figure sped toward us from that very place, hurrying down the steps and past the fence to see us, relief etched into his features. Wedge was hurt, bleeding in multiple places and limping hard with every step he took, but his eyes were clear as he held his rifle. He had surely taken his share of hits, but he was alive, and I was glad to see him.

"Wedge!" I called to him. "You alright?"

He nodded as Aerith tended his wounds. "Yeah, I'll be fine. It's not as bad as it looks. Barret's up top. Help him, Cloud!"

"I'm going up!" I nodded, taking his shoulder for a moment. Then I turned to Aerith. "You look after Wedge."

But then Tifa caught her arm, her gaze intense as she looked at her. "Wait, Aerith. Do me a favor. I have a bar called _Seventh Heaven _in this neighborhood. There's a little girl named Marlene there."

"Don't worry," Aerith promised. "I'll put her somewhere safe. And here, take these."

She handed Tifa both of her materia, and she placed them into her gloves and wrist guards. But as she did that, another sound reached us, a lot closer than the gunfire still going off above us. It was the relentless stomping of booted feet marching quickly not far behind us, and a chill raced through my blood as I realized what was coming.

I whirled around, Wedge and both girls doing likewise, and saw an entire battalion of Shinra troops heading toward us. They were coming from the train station, and I realized they must have gotten there right after we left, having ridden down from the plate to stop us. There must have been at least a few dozen of them, all armed and ready to wipe out any resistance. They had come to secure the pillar so that Shinra could destroy it without anyone stopping them.

I reached back for Buster, but Wedge shook his head. "No! You and Tifa have to get to Barret! And Aerith, right? You have to find Marlene! Go! Now! I'll handle these guys!"

"There's too many!" Tifa protested. "You'll be killed!"

"Maybe," Wedge smiled. "But if that's what it takes in order to save everyone, then I don't mind. And Cloud, remember what you told me? I'm scared, but I'm not gonna stop. I'm gonna make a difference!"

I nodded. "You will, Wedge. Thanks."

"Wedge…" Tifa pleaded. "Please! Come with us!"

He shook his head. "Sorry, Tifa. This is it for me. You need time to reach Barret. I'll make sure you get it."

While Aerith hurried away to the slums to find Marlene, Tifa gave Wedge a tight hug, then raced with me to the stairs, blinking away her tears as she did so and warning the onlookers to get out of the area. We had just started up the steps when the sound of gunfire erupted behind us, and over my shoulder I saw Wedge rushing at the soldiers, shooting at them as he ran and flinching when their bullets hit him. He kept on going, taking down troops left and right. Pulling my gaze away with an effort, I urged Tifa onward, and we kept climbing.

Thunder suddenly split the air as several explosions went off below us. Wedge was throwing the grenades hanging from his belt, and from the surprised screams and shouts of the soldiers, I knew he'd taken out a good many of them. I smiled as I continued going up the stairs, but it faded once the sounds of the fighting at the base of the pillar stopped a few moments later and the stomping of booted feet resumed. I glanced back once more, knowing what I would see.

Amidst the bodies of many enemies, Wedge lay unmoving, riddled with burns and bullet wounds. I sighed and bowed my head, letting my eyes close for a moment as Tifa covered her mouth and choked back a sob. She didn't bother hiding her tears now. But we didn't have time to grieve. The soldiers were starting to climb up the stairs, and Barret still needed us. I took Tifa's hand in mine and we went on, hurrying as fast as we could, taking the steps two at a time now.

We found Biggs just a few landings up, leaning over the railing and clutching his right side where it was bleeding heavily from a deep gash. The remains of several roboguards and a handful of Shinra soldiers lay scattered around him, reminding me of how we had found him outside Reactor 5 yesterday. He looked up when he heard us coming, and from the wetness and the haunted look in his eyes, I knew he had seen what had happened to Wedge.

Tifa hurried to him and immediately started to concentrate on her Cure magic, but Biggs shook his head and gently pushed her away. Tifa tried again, and again he refused her. I knew then what he was going to do, and I put a hand on Tifa's shoulder, knowing there was no way we'd be able to talk him about of it. I saw it there in his eyes when he looked at me, his expression firm and resolute.

"Don't… worry about me…" he said, shaking his head and gritting his teeth against the pain.

I frowned. "But you're wounded."

"Thanks, Cloud. Barret's fighting up there. Go help him… That's… all that matters. I'm gonna… do what I can… to slow these guys down for ya. Can't let… Wedge have all the fun…"

"Biggs…" Tifa breathed, fresh tears spilling from her eyes.

He grinned. "It's alright, Tifa. When this is… all over… don't forget to… raise a glass to me and Wedge. And, Cloud… thanks for having… a drink with us. You're… not so bad, really."

"You too, Biggs," I replied. "And we won't forget."

Tifa hugged him, taking care to avoid his injuries. "Don't do this! I don't want to lose you, too!"

"I know, Tifa," Biggs whispered. "I know…"

She let go, gazing at him. "Biggs…"

Reaching out a hand to her face to wipe her tears away, he gazed at her intently. "You've just… got to keep on goin', Tifa. Keep goin' and… keep fightin'. That's… all you can do."

"You're right," she murmured. "And I will, Biggs. I promise."

I shook his hand. "Biggs, I… If there was any way…"

"I know, Cloud," he said. "Thanks."

Tifa and I climbed onward, leaving him behind, and it wasn't long before gunfire erupted below us again as Biggs fired at the soldiers. He yelled as he fought, taunting the Shinra troops when they reached him. A number of heavy thuds told us he'd taken down his share of enemies, and he kept shooting and shouting as the rest of the troops opened fire. For a while, he kept them tied up and unable to move forward at all as Tifa and I continued our ascent.

But then, when we were over halfway up the stairs, Biggs' shouting reached a sudden crescendo and then stopped, and the guns went quiet again. I squeezed Tifa's hand as we kept on climbing, and she squeezed mine in return, her cheeks streaked with wetness but her resolve never wavering for a second. When we stopped to catch our breath for just a moment on one of the higher landings, I looked down and saw that the soldiers were moving again.

They were much further below us now than they had been before, and they had left Biggs slumped against the railing, his body crumpled and riddled with countless bullet wounds. He had bought us time, him and Wedge both, and between the two of them, the Shinra soldiers had been reduced to only about half their original number. I just wish that it hadn't come at such a high price. I don't like losing friends. It simply hurts too much, knowing they're gone and you'll never see them again. There was nothing that Tifa or I could have done for them, but it didn't make the pain any less. Nothing could, and that was probably the worst part of the whole thing.

We were almost to the top of the stairs when I saw her. Jess was on the landing ahead of us, and I felt my heart skipping more than a beat. There's an old saying I heard once that talks about how absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I never understood what it meant until that moment. Looking up at Jessie, standing above me only a short distance away with her long ponytail of auburn hair, round eyes the color of hot chocolate, freckled cheeks, and lips that were small, pink, and achingly kissable, I realized she had never looked more beautiful to me than she did at that moment. We had been apart for less than a day, but so much had happened in that time that it seemed like it been much longer. An eternity, at least. Maybe two.

Relief washed through me when I saw Jessie was unhurt, and when her eyes met mine, she practically flew down the stairs and leaped into my arms, engulfing me in a crushing embrace that practically stole the breath from my body. I held her close for a minute, knowing we didn't have a lot of time but completely unable to deny how glad I was to see her again, how much I had _wanted_ to see her again.

"Cloud!" Jessie looked at me and smiled, happier than I'd ever seen her before. "You're here! You're really here! I was so worried about you. I was afraid I'd never see you again…"

I grinned. "I told you, Jess. I was in SOLDIER, remember? I'm not gonna go down that easy."

"Oh, Cloud…" she hugged me tighter.

Tifa put a hand on her shoulder, and Jessie smiled and hugged her too before she noticed the tears and the redness in her eyes. She looked back and forth between us. "What… what's happened?"

"Biggs and Wedge, they…" Tifa began, but her voice broke and she couldn't continue.

I sighed and went on. "Shinra soldiers got here just after we did. A lot of them. We… We wouldn't have made it up here to you if the guys hadn't held them back… with their lives…"

Jess gasped, a hand flying to her mouth as tears spilled down from her eyes. "No…!"

"They died fighting, Jess. They died on their feet, doing what they believed in. I know it's hard, but there's no time to grieve just yet. We've got to keep moving."

"You're right, Cloud," she nodded, composing herself. "Let's go."

Jessie ran back up the stairs almost as fast as she'd descended them, glancing over her shoulder and beckoning us to follow. We didn't have very far to go now, but I didn't want her getting ahead of us. I could see a half dozen of Shinra's airborne roboguards, Aero Combatants, flying nearby, and beyond them, the helicopter was circling. As it took aim, I pulled Tifa down with me just in time to dodge a blast of gunfire from the chopper's twin gatling guns.

I looked up at Jess, my heart pounding. "Jess! Wait up!"

She paused for a moment on the landing ahead of us. "Cloud, Tifa, come on! Barret needs us! I locked the pillar controls, but it won't keep Shinra out for long. We have to hurry!"

But then the roboguards dove in, swarming around us like locusts. Four of them swooped toward Tifa and myself while two others turned on Jessie, their rotor blades sharp and spinning in their hands. I fought desperately to reach her, slashing one of the mechs in half with a single broad stroke while Tifa destroyed another one with a flurry of punches and kicks that left it a shattered, smoking mess.

That still left two more. One of them slashed at me while the other struck at Tifa, and as I cut at the mech again and again with Buster, my eyes kept returning to where Jess was fighting all alone against her two opponents, shooting at them with her old machine gun and launching a few quick kicks with her metal-shod boots. She left one of the mechs in a crumpled heap of smoking metal, but the other one was still on its feet and slicing at her again.

I remembered how she'd been in a similar predicament back in the plate interior the other day, and how I'd saved her. Shocking the mech I was fighting with a blast of lightning from my materia, I ignored it as it fell apart and grasped Buster's hilt firmly in both hands. Then, just as I had done last time, I lifted my sword over my head and hurled it at the mech attacking Jessie. It flew end over end through the air and sheared right through the Shinra machine, skewering it before it could strike at Jess again. Then it collapsed in a sparking, smoking pile of broken steel and burnt wiring as I ran to her.

Behind me, Tifa was finishing off the last of the droids, but I wasn't worried. She was tough, a powerful fighter, and one lone mech had no chance against her. So I focused my attention on Jessie. She stood over by the rail, grinning at me as I approached the landing. On my left, the stairs went on, continuing upward. Jess lowered her arms as I came up to her, and I returned her smile as I bent to retrieve Buster. It lay in the shattered wreck of the droid I had trashed.

"You did it again, Cloud," Jess laughed. "I'll never—"

Her smile suddenly froze and fell off her face, her eyes widening as the chopper rose up before us just beyond the railing. I was right in its path, standing there with my sword in my hand, and I hadn't even fully straightened up yet. As the chopper's headlights swept over me, I found I couldn't move. Time slowed to a crawl, and my eyes were locked onto the helicopter and its two gun barrels. "Damn…"

"_Cloud!"_ Jessie and Tifa's panicked voices sounded in my ears, but all I was aware of was death staring me in the face.

Then I was flying into the stairs as Jess slammed into me, knocking me aside just as the chopper opened fire. I could only watch in helpless horror as she was shot again and again, the twin gatling guns spitting a rapid stream of bullets into her slim body. The armor-piercing rounds sheared right through her sculpted metal vest, punching hole after hole into her limbs and chest and tearing through flesh and bone. When the shooting finally stopped, Jessie just stood there for a moment, covered in blood and staring helplessly at me, before falling forward across the landing like a wilting flower.

As I stood up, staring down at her in disbelief, I heard the chopper still flying nearby, and my blood boiled. I bolted across the landing and jumped atop the railing. Then I leapt right into the helicopter before it could fly away again. I slashed at the startled troopers in a mad frenzy, punctuating every attack with blasts of lightning from my materia, and then I hit the fuel lines with more lightning, igniting them.

I spun and jumped just as the chopper exploded behind me, and I caught the railing with one hand and flipped back up onto the landing, catching my breath and finally realizing just how berserk I'd gone. All I could think of was Jess, how she'd been so brutally shot right before my eyes and that I had been so utterly helpless to stop it. And how she had been there for me… how she had saved me.

I found Tifa with her, trying to mend her wounds with Cure magic and potions, but… it wasn't going to be enough. I could see it in Tifa's wet, tear-streaked eyes. But I hadn't had to. I had already known, and I hated it. Magical healing could only do so much, and Jess was just too badly hurt. All it could do was buy her a little time. But it couldn't save her. Nothing could, and she knew it as well as we did.

Gently, I took her in my arms. "Jess… you saved me."

"I guess… this makes us even…" she smiled. "It's… only fair… that I save you… once in a while…"

"Thank you…" I murmured.

She touched my cheek. "Least I could do… for the man I love…"

My breath caught in my throat as I heard her words, and Tifa's jaw dropped open as more tears slid from her eyes. She bowed her head for a moment, then took Jessie's other hand in hers. Then she whispered to her, something I couldn't hear, and Jessie simply smiled at her and said something back to her in return, again so softly that I couldn't hear it. I didn't give it much thought, though, still stunned as I was by what Jess had said to me. I had thought and hoped that she might feel something for me, but I hadn't known it was like this.

After a moment, Tifa looked at me and put a hand on my shoulder. "I… I'll go on ahead, Cloud."

"You sure?" I asked.

"Yeah," she replied. "I'll wait for you, okay? Don't be long."

I nodded. "I won't, Tif."

She turned to Jess, letting go of me to gently stroke her hair as tears spilled down her cheeks. "Goodbye, Jessie. You… you were always like a sister to me…"

"So were you… Tifa…" Jess replied.

"I'll miss our sparring," Tifa sniffled. "You were really getting good at it, you know?"

Jessie's face lit up. "Really? That… makes me… so happy, Tifa…"

"Oh, Jessie! I don't want you to die!"

"I know," Jessie murmured as Tifa buried her head in her shoulder and wept. "But… there's nothing… you can do… except go on."

Tifa lifted her head up and nodded reluctantly, her eyes still wet. "I will, Jess. I will…"

After planting a soft kiss on Jessie's forehead and wrapping her arm lightly around her in a final hug, Tifa rose shakily to her feet. She stood there for just a moment, gazing at Jess as if she were memorizing every detail so she would always have a picture of her in her mind. Then she took a long, deep breath, her expression growing firm and determined, and put her hand on my shoulder again.

"I'll be waiting for you up ahead, Cloud," Tifa said.

I nodded, and she hurried up the stairs to the next landing. When she was gone, I looked back at Jess. "You love me…?"

She smiled. "I knew it… when I saw you… on the stairs…"

"I… had no idea…" I breathed.

"I know, Cloud. When you… saved me… back in Reactor 1… you caught… more than my hand. You also got… my heart…"

I held her close, as gently as I could. "Jess…"

She put her fingers to my lips. "It's alright… I know you can't… say the same. You have so much… going on inside… right now. I'm just so glad… I could see you again… one last time…"

I shook my head. "Don't say last. Don't even think it!"

Jess managed to give me a weak smile in spite of her obvious pain. "That's… alright, Cloud. Because of what I did… my bombs… many… people died. This probably… is my punishment…"

"No, Jess," I argued. "It's not. Not at all…"

A tear slid from her eye, and she leaned her head against my chest. "I… I don't mind. I've caused so many people… so much pain. Now… I can… finally atone for it…"

"Jessie," I said, gazing at her. "You… you were right."

"About what?" she asked.

I bowed my head. "About me. I… don't know how to say it. But… I wish I could. I… I do care for you."

"You do…?" Jess stared at me in wonder.

"When I was on my way here, all I could think of was you. Getting to you. Keeping you safe. And just… seeing you again. I wanted to save everyone, of course, but… you most of all."

I felt her hand gently lifting my chin, and I looked up to see Jessie smiling at me, her eyes wet with tears. "Come here…"

I leaned closer to her, and Jess slowly reached up and slid her hand around the back of my neck and shoulder and pulled me to her. Then I simply forgot how to think for a while as her lips touched mine. I held her close, savoring the kiss and returning it. I didn't want it to end, but I knew that our time was running out. Even so, we didn't let go just yet. My free hand slid into her hair, the skin tingling with the contact, and I felt my heart race even as it ached.

Eventually, Jessie pulled away. "You really… lit my fuse, Cloud. You know that?"

"You lit mine, too…" I murmured.

She smiled. "We're just a… pair of firecrackers… aren't we?"

I laughed. "I suppose so. And you're gonna owe me again. Because I'm gonna get you out of here, Jess. You're gonna be alright."

"You can't… save me this time, Cloud…"

I shook my head. "The hell I can't! I won't let you die!"

Although I knew she was dying, I didn't want to accept it. I started to pick her up, prepared to carry her all the way to the top of the pillar, but Jessie glared at me so fiercely that I set her down again without any further argument. Her gaze was intense. "No! There's… no more time! Can you… hear them? Shinra soldiers… they… they'll… be here soon. The ones… Biggs and Wedge… were fighting."

The sound of booted feet on metal reached my ears, and I nodded reluctantly. It was still some distance beneath us, but it wouldn't be that long before they got here. I didn't want to leave her, my heart screamed at me to stay with her or take her with me no matter what she said. But I knew she was right, and I hated it.

"I know, Jess. I just… wish we had more time."

She nodded. "So… do I. But this… this is… all we have. Cloud… I need… I need you… to promise me… something. Promise me… you'll keep fighting. That you'll… stop Shinra…"

"I promise," I swore. "I'll stop them, Jess. They're gonna find out it's a _very_ bad idea to piss me off."

Jess laughed, wincing at the pain but still smiling. "Thanks, Cloud. I… I'm sorry… that we didn't… get to go… on that… motorcycle ride together. I really… wanted to…"

"It's alright," I told her. "So did I…"

"It… It would've been… fun," Jessie whispered. Her breathing grew shallower as shock started to set in. She fought to stay conscious, and I realized then that whatever time Tifa's potions and spells had given her was running out. Jessie was starting to fade away, as much as I hated it, but her eyes seized me and held me fast. "Cloud, there's… one more… one more thing… that I need you to do…"

I squeezed her hand. "Anything."

Jessie reached down, took one of her black discs from her bag, and put it into my other hand. It was larger than the rest, almost twice their size. She looked at me, her eyes never wavering, every single word now an immense effort. "When you… fight Shinra… sooner or later, you… you'll have to… have to face… my father… Heidegger. There's no… no time… to explain. Barret… can tell you… everything later. It's a… long story. But you need… to know…"

"You want me to use it, don't you?" I said, understanding what she was getting at.

She nodded. "Right. When… when you fight him… use my bomb. It… It's a prototype… stronger than… the rest. Tell him… it's from me. He… He has to answer… for everything… he's done…"

I slipped the disc into my pocket. "I'll see that he gets it."

"I… I know you will, Cloud. Now, go! You… have to… help Barret. Save everyone! You have to… hurry. They're closer now. We're… out of time. But… don't worry. They'll never touch you…"

She pulled something out of her belt, and I looked down to see her holding a black oblong device with a flashing red light along the top of it. And then I knew. I knew exactly what it was. A detonator. My blood was like ice in my veins at the sight of it, and the ache in my heart grew deeper as I realized what she was going to do. "Jess…"

"I… I always… kept this handy… just in case…" she breathed. "It'll set off… everything I've got on me…"

"Jessie!" I held her, not wanting this to be real, wishing it were only a bad dream and that I'd wake up in the bed at Aerith's house or the cot back in the _Seventh Heaven._ But as much as I hated it, I knew it was no dream. And that was the moment I really knew I was going to lose her. I squeezed my eyes shut, holding Jessie for as long as I could until I felt her put a piece of soft fabric into my hand.

I looked down and saw Jessie had given me her headband. I closed my fingers around the wide strip of red cloth and clung to it as though it was the only thing keeping me sane. I knew what had to be done, but it was so much harder than I could have ever imagined. I just looked at her, not wanting to leave, not wanting to say goodbye.

Fresh tears slid down her cheeks as she looked at me. "You have to leave me… Cloud. You… have to do it now…"

"Jessica…" I breathed.

She smiled again. "You've never… called me that… before…"

"I should have… a long time ago."

"Well, I'm… glad you did. And Cloud, I… I'm so happy… that I… got to… know you a little," Jess whispered.

My hand found hers and squeezed it tight. "Me too."

Her smile faded only moments later as the tromping of booted feet drew closer. "Cloud, we're… out of time. Go!"

"I can't do it…" I shook my head, knowing she was right but hating it nonetheless. "I can't just… leave you here to die…"

"You don't… have… a choice," Jessica reminded me, reaching up to touch my face. "You… have to… let me go…"

Jessie pressed her lips to mine again in a last, lingering kiss, and in that moment, all I knew was the sweet taste of her mouth, the softness of her skin, the strands of her hair sliding between my fingers, and the slowly fading warmth of her body close to mine. When Jess eventually pulled away, I carefully set her down and stood up, my legs not entirely stable beneath me as I looked at her.

Now I was the one gazing at Jessie, memorizing everything about her, every line and curve. I could hear the troops, their footfalls louder now, and I knew that it was time. Jessica smiled at me as she slowly and painfully pulled herself to her feet, leaning heavily on the railing as she wrapped one arm around it. And still I couldn't move. It was as though my feet had become fused to the floor.

"Go on…" Jess whispered. "For me…"

Drawing in a deep, shaky breath, I hurried up the stairs. It… it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I was just getting onto the next landing, where Tifa was waiting for me, when I heard the soldiers run out onto the landing where Jessie was and take aim at her. I turned around and only just barely managed to stop myself from leaping back down there to save her as I saw her standing calm and unafraid, staring defiantly at the men who had come to kill her.

She shifted her gaze to look up at me as her breathing slowed, and as Tifa took my arm with hands that weren't quite steady, I understood that Jessie wanted me to be the last thing she ever saw. My hand found Tifa's and held it tight, and I heard her sharp intake of breath when the soldiers prepared to shoot. In that moment, one that I'll never forget as long as I live, Jessie smiled at me, the light slowly fading from her eyes, and then she breathed one final word.

"Goodbye…"

As the soldiers opened fire and the bullets tore into her, Jess hit the activator switch on the detonator, and her eyes stayed on mine even… even as… the life finally left them. There was a sudden beep, and then I threw my arms around Tifa and spun around, shielding her with my body as the landing below us suddenly exploded into a blazing orange fireball that incinerated Jessica and her enemies alike. And from within my arms, Tifa screamed, her voice a roiling banshee wail of pain, rage, and grief as it tore out of her throat.

"_JESSIE!"_

She clung to me as if I was all that kept her standing, and I held her just as tightly and desperately as she held me, both of us wanting and needing the contact with each other in that moment as the terrible heat from the explosion washed over us. I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling as if my heart had just been ripped out of my chest, the pain so deep and sharp it was almost physical.

I could feel the wetness of Tifa's tears on my shoulder as she cried, her chest heaving with broken sobs as she clung tightly to me until she finally wore herself out and the deafening thunder from the blast faded into silence. In the quiet and stillness that followed, neither of us let go at first. Tifa and I, we just stood there together on that landing, holding each other for a while and not saying anything. There was nothing left to be said. Jessica… was gone.

I didn't… I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe that… Jessica was dead. I looked at Tifa, at her red, wet eyes and the pain that was in them. And I found that my heart ached for her as much as it did for myself. We had suffered a terrible loss, both of us, and I didn't want to think yet about how we were going to tell Barret. Not just about Jess, but about Biggs and Wedge as well. As we stood there, I knew then that I couldn't deny the truth of it anymore.

Hesitantly, Tifa and I finally let go of each other and glanced down at the landing. Or rather, where it had once been. Now it was gone, and Jess was gone, too. The broken metal struts at the shattered and blasted edges of the stairs and railing were blackened and scorched, and smoke lingered in the air in ugly gray plumes above the huge, gaping hole that had once been the landing. My legs buckled, and only Tifa's hand upon my shoulder kept me from sinking to my knees.

Swallowing hard, I reached into my pocket and grasped the bomb Jessica had given to me, touching its curved edges and flat surface and drawing strength from it. I knew then what I had to do, the promises I had made to her. I withdrew my hand, determined now to stop Shinra no matter what it took. I hadn't really had a reason to fight them before aside from the money, but I had one now.

A hell of a reason.

Taking Tifa's hand tightly in mine once again, I ran with her up the rest of the stairs.


	15. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - FOURTEEN

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**FOURTEEN**

Daddy and Cloud said I could tell this part of the story, about how I met Aerith, the nice flower girl that we all loved. They told me it was really important, and I wanted to help. I liked Aerith a lot even though I never got to see her that much. She was really special, but Daddy and the others will tell you why later. That's important, too.

I was all by myself in the bar, sitting at a table and playing with my dolls. I was hoping that Daddy and everyone else would be back home soon. It wasn't the first time I had ever been home alone, but somehow it felt different now. I didn't know why it was so empty, or why so many people had left. Johnny's mom sometimes stayed with me when Daddy and everybody else had to go away somewhere, but now she was gone, too, so I was alone when Aerith came to get me.

I looked up when the doors opened and Aerith walked inside. She had green eyes, pretty brown hair that was tied in a long braid, a bright pink dress with a lot of buttons down the front, a short red jacket with big pockets, old brown boots, two cute pink ribbons in her hair, a staff in her hand, and a smile on her face. I really liked her hair and thought that if I let mine grow as long as hers, I could ask Tifa or Jessie to make it into a braid so I could have one, too. Anyway, I didn't know who this lady was, but I just knew that she would be nice. It was just something about it her, how warm and bright she was.

"You must be Marlene," she said as she came over to me.

I nodded. "Yep! How did you know?"

"Tifa sent me," she answered. "My name's Aerith. We have to leave here for a little while, okay?"

"Why?" I wondered.

Aerith sat down in the chair next to me. "Because it's not safe here now. Tifa and Cloud are trying to help a lot of people before something bad happens. They asked me to take you someplace safe, and that's just what I'm going to do. Is that alright with you, Marlene?"

I held up my dolls. "Can I take these with me?"

"Of course," she smiled.

"Thanks! And you found Cloud? We were worried about him."

Aerith laughed. "Well, it was more like he found me. I'll tell you all about it on the way."

I was glad Cloud was okay. I had been a little scared of him at first, but even though he didn't say too much, he was still nice to me. I knew that Tifa liked him, and I think Jessie did, too. I remember seeing how they would just stare at him sometimes when he didn't know it, and all the little things they did for him. They talked with me about Cloud all the time. I still don't know what it all means yet, but that's okay. I asked Daddy once, and he said I'll understand when I'm older.

Aerith and I got up, and I was about to follow her outside when I remembered the pretty flower that Cloud had brought home. I know it was just a flower and I had thought I would be coming back later, but I still didn't want to leave it behind. So I went behind the bar, picked up the pot that Tifa had put it in, and walked back over to Aerith. It was a little hard carrying both the flowerpot and my dolls, but I didn't mind. I showed her the flower. "Can I take this, too?"

"Sure, honey," she said, and her smile got a little bigger. "You know, I sold Cloud that flower."

"Really?" I asked.

She nodded as we walked outside. "Yeah. And for just one gil, too! He was so nice that I lowered the price for him. But don't tell him that, okay? It'll be our little secret."

"I won't tell him," I promised. "Where are we going?"

"I'm taking you over to my house for a while," Aerith told me. "My mom's there, and—"

She stopped as we left the slums and walked up to the place where that big pillar was. Everybody was gone, but I saw lots of people laying on the ground and not moving, and most of them were Shinra soldiers. I stepped closer to Aerith as she looked at everything, and I was scared. Then I saw Wedge, and I started to cry.

"It's okay, Marlene," Aerith whispered. "Just stay here for a minute. I won't be long."

I did, and she walked over and knelt next to Wedge. Why wasn't he moving? I didn't understand it back then. All I could think of was how he used to help Tifa in the kitchen, how he would always share yummy treats with me and play with me. And somehow I knew he wouldn't be doing those things anymore. I watched Aerith move her hand over his face as she whispered to him. "Thank you…"

Aerith had closed his eyes, and when she came back to me, she was crying, too. I hugged her, and she hugged me.

We kept moving, and it was so quiet now. We didn't say anything at first. When we walked past the train station, we suddenly heard a huge boom from somewhere above us and turned around to look behind us. We saw a big ball of fire near the top of the stairs next to the pillar for a moment, and then it went away. I held my dolls closer and wondered if someone else had stopped moving. I hoped not, but I was still scared. I hoped I would see Daddy and the others soon.

I thought about them a lot while I walked with Aerith through the gate to Sector 6. Biggs used to give me piggyback rides, and he showed me how to count with those funny cards that he and Wedge sometimes played with. Jessie always brushed my hair for me if Tifa was busy, and she would also let me sit on her lap and watch her while she worked on her computer. I was a lot smaller then, so I don't remember very much else about them or Wedge, but… I still miss them. I know Daddy does, too. Once in a while I can see a tear in his eye, like tonight when Cloud was talking about what happened to them inside the pillar, but usually he just brushes it off and tells me that he got something stuck in there. He didn't tonight, though.

Anyway, after Aerith and I walked into Sector 6, she started talking again, asking me all about Cloud and telling me how she met him. Just silly things, and I didn't know all the answers, but Aerith told me it was alright. I think she was trying to take my mind off of what we had seen at the train station and the pillar. And maybe she was trying to take her mind off it, too. So we talked for a while, and then we left Sector 6 and went into Sector 5. I had never been in there before, and Aerith said to stay close to her, so I did.

We were just going past a place with lots of stores and little houses sort of like where I lived when Aerith looked behind us and saw a man in a dark blue suit. He had really long hair, and it was black like the tie he wore, and he also had a weird dot on his forehead. Aerith told me to hurry and that we were almost to her house, so we went faster. But the man and the two soldiers with him kept on following us. When we got to Aerith's house, we went inside right away.

"Mom?" Aerith said. "I'm back."

"Thank goodness!" her mom said. She was a nice lady with a green dress. "Are you alright? And who is this?"

Aerith put her hand on my shoulder. "This is Marlene. I promised a friend that I would keep her safe. Shinra's trying to drop the Sector 7 pillar and I had to get her away from there."

"What!?" her mom gasped.

"Mom, we've been followed. It's Tseng. He'll be here any minute."

Right when she said that, the front door opened, and the man that she had called Tseng walked inside with his two soldiers. And I heard a loud noise outside, a big chopping sound that was muffled once Tseng closed the door behind him. It was a helicopter, but I didn't know that back then. He looked right at us. "You've led us on quite a merry chase, Aerith. And it seems you have a visitor."

"Leave her out of this, Tseng," she said. "It's me you want, not her."

"Why should I do that?"

Aerith looked at me, then back at him. "Because, if you do… I'll go with you. Just let her go."

"No, Aerith!" her mom said. "Don't do this!"

"I won't let them have Marlene, Mom. I made a promise. And she's my friend."

I was scared again, but this time it was for Aerith. I liked her and I really wanted her to stay with us, but I knew that she wouldn't. She put her staff down and went over to where Tseng and his men stood while her mom put her arms around me. Tseng nodded, and his soldiers put Aerith in handcuffs and started to lead her away. But before they took her out of the house, I put my things down on the table and ran over to her and hugged her tight.

"Bye, Aerith!" I said. "Don't worry, Daddy and Cloud and Tifa will come save you!"

"I know, sweetie," she smiled. "I'll see you again soon."

Then I had to let go of her, and I ran back to be with her mom. She looked ready to cry as she watched Aerith being taken away. "Aerith… please come back…"

"I will, Mom. Don't worry. Cloud will come for me. He'll bring me home, just like before."

And then she was gone. Tseng and his two soldiers took her out of the house, and we went to the door and watched as they got inside the helicopter. I saw Aerith sitting by the window, and she smiled at us as they took off. I waved at her and watched as the helicopter flew toward Sector 7, and I didn't look away until I couldn't see her anymore. Then her mom and I went back inside the house.

* * *

Cloud and I sprinted onto the circular platform of the mechanized tower, the massive bulk of the square-shaped pillar rising up alongside it until it met the underside of the plate a hundred feet above us. Barret was there, his back to us as he shot at another helicopter that was flying toward us from the direction of Sector 5. It was still out of range, but I knew he didn't care. He hated Shinra so much and so deeply, although he had never told me what they had done to him. I hated them, too, for so many reasons. And now, I had three more.

Three dear friends, gone forever.

I still… I still couldn't believe… they were dead. We had all known the risks involved in what we did, in our fight against Shinra, but I… I never thought it would really happen. I just hadn't wanted to believe it could, to any of us. But… it did. And now… they were gone. No matter what anyone says, nothing can prepare you for something like that, for losing someone you love, someone you care for.

Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie had all been like a family to me—no, they _were_ my family—and along with Barret had gladly taken me in when I had been alone here in Midgar during those dark days after Nibelheim. They had given me a home and a purpose, a new focus for my life, and for the past few years, that had been enough. It wasn't exactly a normal family, I'll admit, but it was a family nonetheless. We were always there for each other, and that was all that mattered.

Biggs and Wedge, they were the brothers I'd never had, inseparable and in Biggs' case, incorrigible. He had always been a bit of a prankster, and you never knew what he'd do next. He scared me half to death one time when he left a rubber snake in the fridge, and the other day I saw him "accidentally" push Jessie into Cloud as he was walking by, forcing him to catch her. She had given Biggs a good chewing out for that, but I think she had secretly enjoyed it.

The sight of Jessie in Cloud's arms like that, even though neither of them had intended for it to happen, had sent a spark of jealousy flaring in my gut, but I hadn't had the heart to act on it. Seeing how happy and stunned Jessie was at that moment had drained away any resentment I might have felt. She was a tomboy, not really your typical girly girl, but I knew from our talks together that a part of her had also wanted to be seen, even just once, as attractive and desirable.

It wasn't something Jessie had ever spoken of often, but I had seen the loneliness there in her eyes, and the longing whenever she'd notice guys like Johnny fawning over me and not even glancing her way. Until Cloud came, and when she had fallen into his arms that day, it was the first time she'd been the center of a man's attention. But what had really shocked me was that he had been completely unable to take his eyes off her. And he had seemed just as surprised by that as I was. Jessie too, by the way she had all but forgotten how to talk.

Of course, that was when Barret had come storming in, shattering the moment as he informed us all about the plan to take out Reactor 1, and I hadn't known whether to be glad or irritated. Cloud and Jess had stepped away from each other in a hurry when that happened. But ever since then, things hadn't been the same between them. Especially after he had saved her in Reactor 1.

I had found myself torn as I watched Jess fall for him and how she would just gaze at him when he wasn't looking. I felt the very same way about him, but I couldn't bring myself to be angry with her. I had seen how she had tried to hide her feelings when I was around. I longed for Cloud just like Jess did, but I also wanted her to be happy. And if being with him did that, then I… I didn't mind.

I guess that's why I whispered to Jessie what I did when I… when I said goodbye to her on the landing. What she had told Cloud, that she loved him, it… it had both hurt me and made me happy all at the same time. I could hardly believe it. I loved him, too. I think I had for a long time. I had never admitted it to myself before, but… hearing Jess say it to Cloud… I realized I couldn't deny it anymore. But I had also known I couldn't deny Jess her time with him, either. And so I had whispered to her, so softly that only she could hear me.

"_Jessie… be with him," I told her. "Be happy…"_

_She smiled sadly at me, her own voice a whisper. "Thank you… Tifa. I… never meant… to be in the way. I know… how you feel… about him. And I… I want you… to tell him… someday. The life… I wanted to have with him… it's yours now, Tifa. Live it… for both of us…"_

Then my thoughts returned to Biggs and Wedge. Biggs and I had always enjoyed creating new drink recipes. It was a little hobby of ours, and it had left him passed out at the bar at night more than once after doing a little too much taste testing. He had always joked that he'd had to taste them a lot to make sure the flavor was just right. But he always found ways to keep our spirits up, and I think that was partly why he'd pull those practical jokes of his. No matter what they were, we usually ended up laughing by the end of it. I'll miss them.

Wedge was always quiet, but I'll never forget his kindness. He was there for me more than once when I was down, and while most people only think of his appetite when they even think of him at all, that really wasn't him. He loved to eat, of course, and especially if it was one of my dishes, but there was so much more to him than that. And I had never seen him so brave, so confident, as I had at the base of the pillar. Cloud had helped him somehow, and Wedge had responded with the greatest act of kindness he had ever done.

He and Biggs, they had given Cloud and me so much. And Jessie… she had saved Cloud's life, had shoved him out of harm's way and taken the shots that had been meant for him. Jessie had given her life, they all had, and all I could do now was what Biggs had told me on the stairs. I had to keep going, and keep fighting. Jess had told me that as well. And I was going to do it. For them as well as myself.

_I'll keep going, guys. And I'll keep fighting. Always._

Shaking off my thoughts, I hurried to see Barret, Cloud at my side. I was completely at a loss as to how to tell him what had happened, but I also knew we couldn't spend time on our grief right now with Shinra trying to cause even more death. Barret would surely understand that, but even so, I knew how heavy a blow it would be for him. How… how do you tell someone their three closest friends have just died? How do you even say a thing like that?

Barret turned around when heard us, relief flooding his face as we ran to him. "Tifa! Cloud! You came! Be careful! They're attackin' from the helicopter. It jus' got here a minute ago, but there was another one flyin' around somewhere, too."

"That one's history," Cloud said. "I took it out."

"You _what?_ All by yourself? Why'd you go an' do a damn fool thing like that for? An' where are the others? I sent Jess downstairs to keep an eye out for ya, but where is she?"

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I didn't have the words. My chest started hitching again, and I was barely able to keep the tears from bursting out of my eyes like a waterfall. I couldn't allow myself to do that now, even though I wanted to. Cloud just sighed and shook his head, Jessie's headband still clutched in his fingers. He tried to find the words too, but he had no more success than I did.

"No…" Barret breathed, clenching his fist and trembling with rage. "No! Don't you tell me that! They jus' can't be dead! No goddamn way! They jus'… they jus'… Tifa, they… they can't be…!"

Now the tears did start. I wiped them away before they could turn into a torrent. "I… I'm so sorry, Barret. But they are…"

Barret stumbled backwards as if he'd been hit in the face, the color draining from his skin like water swirling down the drain. Then, as the second helicopter drew closer, he spun around and fired, yelling at the top of his lungs. He kept shooting again and again as it flew past us but didn't score much more than a glancing hit, his grief and anger making his aim so wild and unsteady that most of the shots he fired at it didn't even come close. But considering who we later found out was on there, I'm very glad that he missed.

As it circled around the platform, the chopper hovered in place for a moment, just long enough for a red-haired man in a dark blue suit to jump onto the platform, and my blood froze when I saw him. He was one of the Turks, and I had heard enough rumors and stories about the killings, kidnappings, and other underhanded jobs they did for Shinra to know just how dangerous they were, and I wasn't surprised that they were involved in bringing down the pillar. But we still had to stop them somehow before it was too late.

He landed in front of us, a metal rod of some kind in his hand and a pair of sunglasses resting above his eyes. Cloud put Jessie's headband in his pocket and pulled out his sword while Barret shifted his aim, but before we could stop him, the Turk sprinted to the control panel on the other side of the platform and started inputting a sequence of different commands, and then the red lights displayed on the screen changed to green as he disabled Jessie's lockout.

"You're too late," he said, his hand hovering a few inches above the controls. "Once I push this button…"

"Don't do this! Please!" I implored him.

He touched his finger to the button, his pale blue eyes like chips of ice. "That's all, folks! Mission accomplished."

On the screen, a large digital timer began a countdown from 10:00 as warning klaxons suddenly blared to life all around us. I looked at the others. "We have to disarm it! Cloud! Barret! Please!"

"I can't have you go and ruin all of Shinra's fine work, now can I?" the man in the suit drawled, pointing that metal rod at us. "No one gets in the way of Reno and the Turks."

At the sound of his words, something in me snapped. In my mind, I saw Wedge charging at the Shinra soldiers, dying as he shot down his enemies to give us the time we had needed. I saw Biggs, yelling at them as he held them off on the stairs until they shot him so full of bullets he couldn't breathe anymore, until his life was gone. And I saw Jessie, hurt and dying, whispering goodbye to us before she had blown herself and her killers up so we could reach Barret safely.

Rage filled me, and I embraced it, welcomed it with open arms. My blood burned like fire, and then I was moving before I was even aware of it, smashing Reno's ribs with my fists in a string of vicious punches. I hit him as hard and fast as I could, holding nothing back, my grief and fury giving me a strength I'd never known before.

I heard Barret firing with his gun-arm, and Reno had to practically dance across the platform to avoid being shot, but even so, some of the bullets still grazed him. And while he was off-balance, Cloud smashed the flat of his sword against the side of Reno's face, spinning him nearly into a complete circle, and then I knocked him flat onto his back with a somersault kick to the face. Then I dropped him yet again with a sweep kick when he tried to get back up.

Reno jumped back up faster than I had expected this time, though, and caught me on the side of my shoulder with his metal rod before I could dodge the blow. I gasped and gritted my teeth against the pain as a sudden and strong electrical shock sizzled its way down my arm as if I had just touched a live power conduit. I ducked and sprang away in a quick backflip before Reno could hit me again, and when I looked up, I saw him fire a burst of energy from his rod at Barret, encasing him in a translucent golden pyramid of magical force.

Barret hit it with his fist, but it held and didn't waver. Then he tried to move but couldn't. I frowned, wondering how to get him out. Maybe hitting it from the outside would make a difference. So while Cloud hit Reno with a solid backhand punch that made me proud and jabbed the butt end of his sword hilt into the Turk's gut, I jumped up and struck at the pyramid with a series of swift downward kicks.

The construct shattered and disappeared, and Barret was free once again. He wasted no time, bringing up his arm and burning Reno with a searing blast of fire magic. Then I remembered my own materia, and what Aerith had given me, and let loose with a frigid burst of cold that left Reno staggering as spears of ice bit at his skin. Then Cloud kept up the magical assault with his lightning, striking at Reno with a shocking bolt that left him sprawling onto his back again as smoke rose from the scorched remains of his suit.

Reno sprang back to his feet, not done yet, and swept his metal rod at Cloud but missed. He recovered quickly, though, and dodged before I could punch at him again even as Barret singed him with another fire spell. When Reno fired another energy burst from his rod, he aimed it at me this time, but before I could get away, another pyramid coalesced around me and locked me down.

This time Barret was the one freeing me, returning the favor as he pounded the pyramid with his fist until it collapsed. As soon as I could move, I ran full out at Reno, bound and determined to finish this now, the rage still burning inside me like magma. Bringing up my fists, I hit him again and again, pummeling him again and again with punch after punch and kick after kick, high and low and everywhere in between. I didn't stop, didn't let up. I blocked out everything else as I fought, only dimly aware of Cloud at my side continuing his own assault while from behind us, Barret kept the pressure on with bullets and scorching blasts of fire. I hit Reno with another shot of ice, mixing up my attacks while Cloud did likewise with his lightning spells.

Reno crumpled under the force of our attacks, but before we could finish him off, the helicopter flew in again, and he ran and jumped into it. I swore under my breath, hating that he'd gotten away, but knew that we didn't have time to worry about it. I raced to the pillar controls, my heart pounding within my chest as I saw the timer slip below 5:00. Not knowing what else I could do, I pressed button after button in different combinations, desperate to stop the countdown, but to no avail. Then I hit the panel with the bottom of my fist, frustrated and in a near-panic now, but that didn't work either.

I turned to Cloud. "Cloud! I don't know how to stop this!"

"Let me try it," he said.

I watched, hoping against hope as he came over and worked on the controls himself and wishing that Jessie was here to help us. I knew she would have been able to stop it somehow. But… she was dead, unfairly taken from us along with the others. I hated even thinking it, but there was no helping it. And no helping us, either. My heart sank when I saw my own frustration mirrored on Cloud's face as he pushed one button after another without success. Still the countdown went on, the timer's digits the color of blood on the screen as the numbers continued their terrible and unstoppable descent.

Cloud shook his head. "It's not a normal time bomb."

"That's right," a new voice spoke. It was another Turk, stepping out onto one of the helicopter's landing struts, his long black hair tossed by the breeze from the rotors. "You'll have a pretty hard time disarming it. It'll blow the second some stupid jerk touches it."

"Please, stop it!" I pleaded. "If it's us you're after, then go ahead and take us, just leave everyone else out of it! Please don't make them suffer for what we did!"

It was the only thing left that I could try. I couldn't just let all those innocent people die, and if the price of saving them was that we had to turn ourselves in to Shinra, then… I could accept that. A look at Cloud and Barret as they nodded in agreement told me they felt the same way I did, and for a moment I felt hope fill my heart.

It died a moment later though, when the Turk shook his head. "I'm afraid our orders are quite clear. Only a Shinra Executive can set up or disarm the Emergency Plate Release System."

"Shut yer hole!" Barret yelled, firing a few shots.

"I wouldn't try that," the Turk said. "You just might make me injure our special guest."

He glanced over his shoulder for a moment and nodded, and from inside the helicopter, Reno forced someone else out onto the strut with the other Turk, someone I recognized instantly. Cloud's sudden intake of breath was as sharp as my own when we saw her standing there, her arms bound by a pair of steel handcuffs.

My eyes widened. "Aerith!"

"Oh, you know each other?" the dark-haired Turk said. "How nice you could see each other one last time. You should thank me."

"What are you gonna do with Aerith!?" Cloud demanded.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Our orders were to find and catch the last remaining Ancient. It's taken us quite a long time, but I can finally report this to the President."

"Tifa!" Aerith called out. "Don't worry! She's safe!"

_Marlene!_ Relief flooded through me at her words even as I worried for Aerith. The moment she spoke, the black-haired Turk narrowed his eyes, shot her an angry glare, and slapped her across the face. I felt my blood boiling again at the sight, and I didn't need to glance at Cloud to know he was as pissed as I was.

"Aerith!" Cloud and I yelled, our eyes blazing.

She shook her head. "Don't worry about me! Hurry and get out!"

The black-haired Turk forced Aerith back into the helicopter, then looked at us over his shoulder and laughed. "Well, it should be starting right about now. Think you can escape in time?"

Without waiting for an answer, he ducked back inside the chopper as it rose up and flew away. My eyes went to the timer, and my heart all but stopped when I saw it flashing 0:00 over and over again and felt the whole platform begin shuddering beneath my feet. Cloud, Barret, and I all looked up at pillar, and my throat closed down to a bare pinhole as I saw it start to explode. I had always thought it to be indestructible, an indelible piece of the slums that would always be standing above us no matter what else happened around it. But not anymore.

Huge chunks of concrete blew out the sides, falling past us to land somewhere in the slums far below us. And as we watched helplessly in growing horror, the pillar was wracked with even more explosions, one after another, starting from the top and racing inexorably downward. I had no idea how we were going to escape, and I felt utterly paralyzed as more debris rained down all around us, some of it hitting the railing or landing upon the platform. As we stood there in the midst of it all, one thought raced over and over again in my mind.

We were trapped.

But then Barret's voice snapped me out of my paralysis as he called out to us. "Yo! We can use this wire to get out!"

I tore my gaze away from the crumbling pillar and looked at where Barret was standing by the rail. In his hand, he held a thick black cable, one of several that stretched from the underside of the plate to hook to the railing to help keep it in place. He had unfastened it and motioned frantically for us to join him.

Sensing what he had in mind, I hurried over and climbed onto his back while Cloud clung to his other side and grabbed onto the cable as well. As Barret climbed onto the railing, sweat pouring down his face, a huge roar louder than the largest blast of thunder could ever be nearly deafened us, and all of us looked up to see the wedge-shaped section of metal and concrete that was Sector 7 tear free from the rest of the plate and begin its terrible and inexorable descent as the portion of the pillar not so far above us exploded. I squeezed my eyes shut and clung tightly to Barret as he jumped, and as we swung away from the platform, the sounds of groaning metal and thunderous explosions flooded my ears as the plate continued to collapse behind us.

* * *

"Come on! Hurry! There's no time!"

I called out to the people following me, motioning for them to run through the gate and into the relative safety of Sector 8. The plate was trembling beneath us, shuddering like a dog with a bad chill as around us, buildings began to collapse in on themselves and sections of Sector 7's streets began splitting apart in jagged cracks and falling away. I had spent the last twenty minutes getting as many people out of the area as I could, but now there was nothing more that I could do. The plate was coming down, and we had to get out.

"Mr. Reeve, sir, where do we go?" an older man asked.

"Just go through the gate and get as far away from it as you can!" I told him. "Worry about the rest later!"

He nodded and did as I had instructed, and I was just preparing to follow him and the others when I heard someone calling out frantically behind me. I turned to see a woman running down the broken remains of the ruined street toward me, her eyes wide with fear and her brown hair flying behind her in a short ponytail. Beside her, his hand in hers, a man that could only have been her husband ran with her, pulling her along with him and urging her not to stop.

"Wait for us!" the woman called to me. "Please!"

I beckoned to them. "Hurry! It's going to fall any minute!"

They did, but then another tremor shook the plate, and the woman lost her balance and fell onto her stomach.

"Come on, Chloe!" the man grabbed her. "Get up!"

She shook her head. "Just go, Abel! I'm slowing you down…"

Abel grabbed her and pulled her to her feet again. "Not happening! We've got a son to get back to, remember?"

I was just stepping out into the street to help them when suddenly an ear-splitting screech erupted around us. Metal groaned and snapped as the entire Sector 7 plate started tearing away from the rest of the city in a devastating chain reaction of blinding explosions that raced along the wall separating it from Sector 8.

Then there was a massive jolt as the plate abruptly tilted downward at an almost forty-five degree angle, and I could hear the screams from people still trapped in there, people I hadn't been able to reach in time. I returned my gaze to Abel and Chloe as they struggled desperately to climb the slanted slope of the street and reach the gate before this part of the sector collapsed entirely. I ran to them, but then another tremor shook the plate, and the section of the street they were sprinting across cracked and crumbled away beneath their feet.

Chloe managed to grab onto the crumbling edge of the concrete as she fell, but Abel wasn't so lucky. He plummeted down to the slums far below, screaming as he did. His wife called out his name, tears running down her face as she hung there, and I cursed myself for not being fast enough to save him. I got to her a moment later and grabbed her arms, pulling her up and running with her back toward the gate.

Ahead of us, the line of fire sped closer, and in less than a minute it would consume the gate and trap us in this doomed place. We reached the gate just as the heat began washing over us, but before I could push Chloe through to safety, she put her hands on my back and shoved me ahead of her instead. I stumbled through into Sector 8, barely staying on my feet, and whirled around, wanting to help her as she had helped me. But I was too late.

As I watched in helpless horror, Chloe disappeared amidst another explosion, consumed in fire as the Sector 7 plate tore completely away. She had saved my life at the price of her own. With my legs feeling like rubber, I walked over to the gaping, burning hole in the wall and gazed out at the devastation as Sector 7 slowly sank into the ground, thunder rumbling in my ears as vast clouds of dust filled the air.

Sector 7 was gone.


	16. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - FIFTEEN

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**FIFTEEN**

"Marlene! MARLENE!"

I stared at the huge pile of broken metal an' stone blockin' the gate to Sector 7 and tried to keep breathin'. We'd landed down here in Sector 6 after escapin' from the pillar, endin' up fallin' into that old abandoned park that was even more of a mess now that it was before. Bits of debris was all over the place, an' the small shack sittin' behind the playground for the gate guard had jus' collapsed in on itself.

But all I could think of was Marlene. My little Marlene. I closed my eyes, seein' her sweet face. How… how could she be gone? I had saved her when she was only a baby, but now… she was… she was… I shook my head, not wantin' to finish that goddamn sentence. But the ruins of the plate was there in front of me, tons an' tons of it, an' there wasn't no one that could survive under all that.

But I didn't give a shit. Ignorin' the tears that nearly blinded me, I started clawin' at all the debris, pulling pieces of it away here and there an' grabbin' anything else I could get to an' tossin' it aside. I'd have tried to clear the whole damn sector all by myself if I could have. I didn't pay no attention to Cloud an' Tifa watchin' behind me. All that mattered to me was findin' Marlene. I jus'… I jus' couldn't bear the thought of losin' her, of never bein' able to hold her again. An' then I jus' couldn't keep it in no more. Tears was floodin' my face like a river as I dug desperately through the ruins an' screamed out her name to the sky.

"_MARLENE!"_

Then I thought of the others, my team, my family. They was gone, too, an' I hated it. Hated that I'd led them to this, that they'd died an' I'd never see 'em again. I couldn't stop thinkin' of how frightened Jess had been inside the pillar when I'd last seen her, like she'd known somehow what was really comin'. And I kept seein' in my mind the last time we'd all been together, standin' at the base of the damn thing before this hell had broken loose an' how tight we'd all felt in that moment. If only we'd known then what was gonna happen.

I ran back an' forth along the edge of the ruins as I called out their names. "Biggs! Wedge! Jessie!"

Memories filled my mind then, images of the good times we'd had. Me an' Biggs in the bar kickin' back with a couple of beers at the end of a long day, an' Tifa an' Wedge helpin' me peel him up off the floor after he'd gotten himself plastered. How he'd spiked Wedge's punch that time at his birthday party this year, an' how Wedge had spent half the night flirtin' shamelessly with Jess and Tifa when if he'd been sober, he'd have been too shy to even think about talkin' like that with a girl. I saw how happy Jess had been when I'd first asked her to join us, like she'd finally found someplace she belonged an' believed in. She'd been the brains of our little outfit, Biggs was the brawn, an' Wedge was the heart. But now they was all gone. I still… I still couldn't believe it.

"Goddamn it!" I smashed my fist into a piece of busted metal, rage swirlin' in my gut now. "Damn it! DAMMIT ALL!"

Them Shinra bastards had already taken so damn much away from me, an' now they'd taken even more. Those kids hadn't deserved to die, an' Marlene, she… she hadn't, either. She'd been my sweet lil' angel, jus' four years old, but now… now she was gone, too. I was never gonna see her grow up now, or carry her on my shoulder again like I always used to. And as I thought of those things, the fury jus' kept buildin' up in me 'til it felt like I was gonna explode.

Then I jus' couldn't take it no more. I whipped up my gun-arm an' started shootin' at the mountain of busted crap that was all that was left of Sector 7. Bullets sparked off pieces of metal an' concrete, but I didn't give a shit. All I saw was what I'd lost, an' I kept on shootin' for a while, ignorin' Cloud an' Tifa's protests as they told me to stop.

But I jus' couldn't. I'd lost too much, and even though I was almost blinded by my tears, I kept shootin' at the rubble, ventin' my rage until finally there was a bunch of clicks as I hit empty. In the sudden silence, I blinked, the anger fadin' but my heart still feelin' like some goddamn Shinra fool had stuck a knife in it.

"What the hell's it all for?" I muttered. "Goddamn…"

I didn't know anymore. I jus' didn't know.

* * *

After Cloud and I helped Barret to calm down, we led him over to the playground. He sat at the bottom of the slide while I stood next to him, guilt and grief filling every thought. Cloud was off to the side, lost in thought, but I could see pain reflected in his eyes even as the rest of his face was as cool and composed as it so often was. I knew that losing Jessie had hurt him more than he let on, and he must have also been as worried about Aerith as I was.

But my own eyes kept returning over and over to the massive ruins of the place that had once been our home. No, I corrected myself. That place was gone, crushed beneath the immense weight of the destroyed plate that had fallen upon it. Now all of it lay in shambles.

And it was all our fault.

The words kept repeating themselves again and again in my mind, and I found I couldn't argue with them. We had fought so hard to save this place, these people that were now dead and gone, but we… we had failed. We had barely been able to even save ourselves, and I wondered if maybe we should have just stayed there and died as well, if maybe we didn't deserve it. If we hadn't struck against Shinra, they wouldn't have dropped the plate and killed so many people. At least, that's what I had thought at the time. I know better now, though.

But it's still so hard to let it go.

"Marlene…" Barret wept.

Then I remembered. "Barret? Marlene is… I think Marlene is safe. Just before they took Aerith, she told us, 'Don't worry, she's alright.' She was probably talking about Marlene."

"R-Really!?" his face brightened immediately, then he looked down again. "But… Biggs… Wedge… Jessie…"

Cloud finished that thought, trying to sound calm and composed, but I could hear the slight tremor in his voice as he spoke. "All three of them died in the pillar…"

"Think I don't know that? But we, all of us fought together. I don't wanna think of them as dead!"

"I know, Barret," Cloud sighed. "Neither do I. But they are."

Barret didn't respond at first, but then he looked at us, his eyes full of grief and loss. "How…How did they die?"

I had known he would ask that sooner or later, but still, it was hard to talk about. But he deserved to know, so Cloud and I told him. He sat and listened as we told him how they had each sacrificed themselves so we could get to him in time and stop Shinra from destroying the pillar. And I realized that although we hadn't been able to save Sector 7, their loss hadn't been for nothing.

"We wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for them," I said.

Cloud nodded. "If we had gotten caught up fighting those soldiers, we would never have escaped when the plate came down."

"They went out fightin',' Barret breathed. "An' they saved your lives an' Marlene's while they was at it. I… I can live with that."

I swallowed. "But the other people in Sector 7…"

"This is all screwed up! They destroyed the whole sector jus' to get to us! They killed so many people…"

"Are you saying it's our fault?" I asked. Guilt still plagued my mind, but to hear him say it was something else. "Because AVALANCHE was here? Innocent people lost their lives because of us?"

He shook his head and stood up. "No, Tifa! That ain't it! Hell no! It ain't us! It's the damn Shinra! It's never been nobody but them! They're evil an' destroyin' our world jus' to build their power an' line their own damn pockets with gil! If we don't get rid of 'em, they'll kill the Planet! Our fight ain't never gonna be over until they're gone!"

"I don't know…"

"What don't you know?" Barret growled. "You don't believe me?"

I sighed. "It's not that. I'm not sure about… me. My feelings."

I knew Shinra had to be stopped, but I at the same time, I couldn't dismiss how responsible I felt for what had happened here, for the loss of life that had occurred. I remembered telling Cloud just the other day about how trapped I had felt as the harsh reality of what we were doing became so clear and about the doubts I'd had even then. And now, they had just been justified in the most horrible way possible.

Barret grunted and looked at Cloud. "An' what about you?"

Cloud didn't reply. He simply started walking, heading toward the other exit and the old highway beyond it. At first, I didn't have any idea what he was doing or where he was going. What was he thinking? Why had he just gone off like that?

"Where's he think he's goin'?" Barret wondered.

Then it hit me. "Oh! Aerith!"

"Oh, yeah. That girl. What's up with her?"

"I don't really know," I shrugged, realizing I didn't know that much about her. "but she's the one I left Marlene with."

"Damn! Marlene!" He started to hurry after Cloud, then turned to look at me. "Tifa. There ain't no turnin' back now."

And then he was gone, and I was alone in the park. For a moment, I looked back at the immense ruins of what had been a bustling part of the city just two hours ago. Now it was just a mountain of debris and a tomb for those who had died when it fell. Guilt still festered within my heart, and I knew it would be a long time before I would ever really be free of it. It still hurts to think about it even today, but… maybe talking about it, confronting it, is the only way to really deal with it. With that in mind, I think that maybe telling our story is becoming something as much for us and for our own healing as it is for all of you. Maybe that's what Nanaki really intended all along.

Turning away from the ruins, I followed Barret out of the park.

* * *

"Cloud!" Barret called from behind me. "Take me to Marlene!"

I stopped just a short distance into the broken highway Aerith and I had traveled through not so long ago. Now she was gone, taken by the Shinra, but I sure as hell was going to get her back. I hated that I hadn't been able to save Jess—it burned in my heart like an open wound—but I couldn't afford to dwell on that loss now. Aerith needed me, and I was her bodyguard and had sworn to protect her and keep her safe. It was a promise I intended to keep. But…

"You're going to help Aerith?" Tifa asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. But before I do that, there's something that I have to know. Something about her…"

"What's that?"

"It's about the Ancients," I answered.

Reno had mentioned it first, back in the church when he and his thugs had been chasing after us, and then in the pillar, that other Turk had said it as well. Aerith was an Ancient. But what did it mean? There was only one other Ancient that I knew of, and at the thought of him, I felt that old fury rising up in me again. And then, as if the thought had summoned him, I suddenly heard his cold, mocking voice in my mind as pain exploded within it like I'd taken a sledgehammer to both of my temples. I clutched my head as I collapsed and the words whispered to me across the darkness of my thoughts.

"_Through my veins courses the blood of the Ancients. I am one of the rightful heirs to this planet!"_

"Sephiroth…?" I shook my head, trying to clear my mind.

Tifa nudged my shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Pull it together, man!" Barret added.

I nodded and let Tifa help me get up, and then I led her and Barret down the old highway. I knew exactly where to go, where Aerith would have taken Marlene. There was only one place that made sense. I'd also get some answers there, I was certain.

Elmyra didn't seem at all surprised to see us about twenty minutes later when I knocked on her door. She let us in without a word, and we stepped inside the house. At first, none of us said anything. I wasn't all that sure where to start, to be honest. But it was Elmyra who broke the silence as she looked at me.

"Cloud, wasn't it?" she asked. "It's about Aerith, isn't it?"

I sighed. "I'm sorry. The Shinra have her."

"I know. They took her from here."

So that was why Elmyra had been expecting us. I found I wasn't as surprised as I thought I'd be. "They were here?"

She nodded. "That's what Aerith wanted."

What she had wanted? Why would Aerith have just let Shinra take her after doing her best to evade them for so long? I didn't understand it. But more than that, there was something else. Something I had been wanting to know for some time now. I had never pressed Aerith about it before, but with her being held by the Shinra, I couldn't avoid asking about it anymore.

"Why is Shinra after Aerith?" I asked.

"Aerith is an Ancient," Elmyra explained. "The sole survivor."

Barret scratched his darkly bearded chin. "What did you say? But aren't you her mother?"

Elmyra shook her head. "No. Not her real mother, anyway. It must have been fifteen years ago, during the war. My husband was sent off to the front. Some faraway place called Wutai."

We all sat down at the table as we listened to Elmyra tell her story. "One day, I went to the train station because I got a letter saying he was coming home on leave. But my husband never came back. I wondered if something had happened to him, then decided that his leave had just been canceled. I went back to the station every day hoping I would see him, but I never did."

"Then, one day, I found a young woman lying on the steps leading onto the platform, and sitting next to her was a little girl. It was Aerith. She was crying because her mother was badly hurt. She was dying. You used to see this kind of thing a lot during the war. Her last words were, 'Please take Aerith somewhere safe.'"

"My husband never came back, and I had no child. I was lonely. So I took her home with me. Aerith and I became close very quickly. That child loved to talk. She would talk to me about everything. She told me how she had escaped from a research laboratory of some kind and that her mother had already returned to the planet, so she wasn't lonely."

Barret blinked. "Returned to the planet?"

"I didn't know what she meant," Elmyra answered. "I asked if she meant a star in the sky, but she said that it was this planet. Aerith was a mysterious child in many ways."

"What do you mean?" Tifa wondered.

"Well, one day, she told me not to cry. She just blurted it out all of a sudden. When I asked her if something happened, she said, 'Someone dear to you has just died. He was on his way to see you, but he's already returned to the planet.'"

"At the time, I didn't believe her. But several days later, we received a notice saying that my husband had died. I cried for what seemed like hours, that letter in my hand. And that was it. A lot had happened, but we were happy. Until one day…"

"He showed up when Aerith was eight. Tseng, one of the Turks. He wanted Aerith to go back to Shinra with him. He told her that she was of a very special blood, that her real mother had been an Ancient. That was when I found out. Tseng told us that the Ancients would lead us to a land of supreme happiness and that Aerith would be able to bring joy and happiness to everyone in the slums."

"But I didn't trust him one bit, and neither did Aerith. She refused and insisted that she wasn't an Ancient. She said she didn't hear voices when she was alone. But I knew. I knew of her mysterious powers. She tried so hard to hide it, so I acted as though I never noticed."

As Elmyra finished her story, I found myself admiring Aerith even more. "It's amazing how she's avoided the Shinra for all these years."

"They need her," Elmyra shrugged. "So I'm guessing they wouldn't do anything to harm her."

"But why now?" Tifa asked.

Elmyra looked at her. "She brought a little girl here with her. Tseng found them on their way here. She wasn't fast enough to escape, so she decided to go the Shinra in exchange for the little girl's safety."

"Marlene…" I reasoned.

Barret practically jumped out of his chair, his eyes wide. "Marlene! Aerith was caught because of Marlene!?"

Elmyra nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid so."

"I'm sorry," Barret sighed, seeming to deflate right before our eyes. "Marlene's my daughter. I'm really sorry…"

"You're her father!? How in the world could you ever leave a child alone like that!?"

Barret slowly met her gaze. "Please don't start with that. I'm always thinkin' 'bout what might happen to Marlene if I, well… But you gotta understand somethin' 'bout all this. I don't got any answers. I wanna be with Marlene, but I gotta fight. 'Cause if I don't, the planet's gonna die. So I'm gonna keep fightin'! But inside, I'm always thinkin' of her. I jus' wanna be with her… always. See? I'm goin' in circles now."

"I think I understand," Elmyra smiled gently at him. "She's upstairs asleep. Why don't you go and see her?"

The words were barely out of her mouth by the time Barret started climbing up the stairs to do just that. I supposed I couldn't blame him. I was glad that Marlene was alright, too, and I figured I'd even see her myself in a minute. But I didn't like how downcast Tifa looked. She just sat there at the table, staring blankly at it but not seeming to see it, her reddish-brown eyes wet and haunted. It wasn't like her at all, but then, we had just endured a massive failure and a terrible loss. My heart still ached as well, and I wished I knew how to help her.

"It's all my fault," she murmured without looking up. "I was the one who got Aerith involved in this."

Elmyra shook her head. "Don't say that. Aerith doesn't think so."

"Tifa," I added. "You remember what she told us in Corneo's place? She knew the risks and what she was getting into."

Tifa sighed. "I know. But if she hadn't gone in there to help me, she wouldn't' have ended up with us at the pillar."

"If she hadn't, Marlene wouldn't be alive now."

"Thank you, Cloud," Tifa managed a weak smile for a moment, but it faded quickly. "But what about everyone else in Sector 7? We tried to save them, but… we couldn't. I just… I feel so depressed."

I got up from my chair, took her shoulder for a moment, then went upstairs to see Barret and Marlene. I found them in Aerith's room, and when I saw him crying over her and holding her so long and so tight it seemed like he would never let go, I turned around and started to walk away, not wanting to intrude on them. But before I got very far, Barret heard me and called after me.

"You gonna go help Aerith, right?" he said. "She's done so much for me. If the Shinra're involved, I ain't stayin' here! I'm comin' too!"

Then Marlene ran up to me, a big smile on her face, and I couldn't help thinking about how shy she'd been back at the bar when I had first met her. "Guess what? Guess what? Aerith asked me a lot of questions. Like what kind of a person you are. I bet she likes you, Cloud!"

I knelt so I was at eye level with her and smiled. "Let's hope so."

"I won't tell Tifa," she said, although I didn't have any idea what she meant by that. She went on. "Please bring Aerith back!"

"I will, Marlene," I promised.

Before I knew it, she was hugging me, and then she let go as Barret tousled her hair before following me into the hall. We went downstairs, and I saw that Tifa hadn't moved, and neither had Elmyra.

I knew what we had to do next, but we were all still too strung out to do it yet. Barret was putting on a tough front, but I knew that losing the others was killing him, as was our failure at the plate. And Tifa was inconsolable. As for me, I found my thoughts returning to Jess. It killed me that I had lost her, that she was dead. I kept seeing in my mind how she'd been shot, how she had fallen, her body broken and dying. And I felt responsible for our inability to stop Shinra from dropping the plate and killing so many people. My thoughts echoed Tifa's words to Barret in the park, that maybe Sector 7 and its people would have been spared if we just hadn't been there.

How could we possibly save Aerith in the state we were in?

Elmyra looked knowingly at us. "Aerith told me about the Sector 7 plate before she was taken from us, about what Shinra was trying to do, and I heard it come down. I know that you did everything you could to prevent it. Don't blame yourselves for what happened."

"It… It ain't jus' that," Barret sighed. "We lost three good friends of ours, too. Some of the best I ever had…"

Elmyra went to him. "I'm very sorry, Barret. I know how hard it is. But please try to understand, you all won't be any good to yourselves or Aerith unless you can pull yourselves together and get your heads back on straight again."

"How do we do that?" Tifa asked.

"It might help if you could give your friends a proper goodbye. We can put something together for them if you'd like. Out in the backyard with the flowers, perhaps. If you bring me some of the blossoms, I can make a nice arrangement to go out there."

Barret swallowed and blinked away sudden tears. "Thank you. I… I'd really like that. But what about Aerith? Shinra's got her now. I know you're worried about her, an' we mean to help her an' get her outta that place jus' as soon as we can."

"She's not in any immediate danger," Elmyra said. "They won't hurt her. And she would want you to do this, too."

Knowing her as I did, I knew Aerith would insist on it. And I knew Elmyra was right. Taking a little time to grieve and say goodbye would help clear our heads and our hearts and prepare us for what came next. We had to help Aerith, but first, we had to help ourselves.

While Tifa and I went out to the backyard to gather flowers, Barret left to search the junk piles for something he could use to make a sign. It didn't take long, and we were just bringing Elmyra armfuls of bright yellow blossoms when Barret returned with a board, a narrow wooden beam, and some nails. The wood was a bit rough around the edges but otherwise still usable.

I handed the flowers I was carrying to Elmyra, who along with Tifa and Marlene got started working on the arrangement while Barret and I put together the sign. While I held the pieces steady for him, he used the bottom of his gun-arm as a hammer to fasten them in place. Then I watched as he took a knife in his good hand and etched a message into it. And I realized then why the writing on his AVALANCHE signs had always looked so bad. He'd been writing with his left hand when he was right-handed. But his left was the only one he had now, and as it wasn't his strong hand, his writing with it wasn't as good.

A short time later, we all went to the backyard. We didn't really say anything, but we didn't need to. I held the sign by the post while Barret pounded it into the ground until it stood on its own, and then the girls carefully placed the flowers at its base. But it still seemed to be missing something. My hand slid into my pocket and closed over a soft strip of cloth. Jessica's headband. I closed my eyes for a moment, remembering her and hearing her voice echoing in my mind.

"_Damn! My leg's stuck!"_

"_I…__ I just wanted to say thank you… for saving my life…"_

"_H-__Hey, Cloud! You want to look at this with me?"_

"_I like this kinda thing. Bombs, monitors… you know, flashy stuff."_

"_How about I whip up a special ID for you?"_

"_I… __I think you've really lit my fuse!"_

"_Am I… am I a bad person, Cloud?"_

"_Be careful, okay? I just… I don't want anything to happen to you."_

"_It's… only fair… that I save you… once in a while…"_

"_Least I could do… for the man I love…"_

"_When you… saved me… back… in Reactor 1… you caught… more than my hand. You also got… my heart…"_

"_We're just a… pair of firecrackers… aren't we?"_

"_Promise me… you'll keep fighting__. That you'll… stop Shinra."_

"_You… have to let me go…"_

"_Goodbye…__"_

Opening my eyes again, I took out Jessie's headband, gazed at it for a long moment, and then tied it around the signpost. After I was done, I stepped back, and we all stood there and looked at the little memorial in silence, Marlene holding Barret's hand as Tifa's slid into mine. I read what Barret had written, committing the words to heart:

_Biggs [ μ ] εуλ 1987 - [ ν ] εуλ 0007  
Wedge [ μ ] εуλ 1988 - [ ν ] εуλ 0007  
Jessie [ μ ] εуλ 1985 - [ ν ] εуλ 0007_

_Died fightin' for the planet  
Fought to save Sector 7  
Gone but ain't never gonna be forgotten_

Barret said a few halting, broken words, his face wet with the tears he made no effort to hide, and Tifa's was in pretty much the same state. But I couldn't. I didn't understand it. My eyes were just locked. I hated that we'd lost Jess and the guys and it hurt like hell even though I'd only really known them a few days. A lot had happened in that short stretch of time, to all of us, and it had drawn us together. When I had gone on that first mission with them, I had never thought we'd become friends. But what you expect isn't always what happens.

I had just started to get to know them a little, but now… now they were gone. I wished I had spent more time with them when I'd had the chance, but I had been too wrapped up in myself when I had first met them, in those weeks before we took out Reactor 1. Now, though, all I wanted was to have them back, Jessica most of all. But I couldn't. They were gone, and I hated it. My heart ached as I thought of Jess and what we might one day have had together, and pain filled me as I thought of the guys and the friendships that had been cut short.

But as I stood there and gazed at the memorial we had made, I felt my resolve to save Aerith and stop Shinra grow firmer, easing the pain of my grief somewhat. I felt like I could focus now on what I had to do, and as I glanced at the others, I saw the same thing in their eyes and in the way they each straightened up and released a long, slow breath as if expelling some of their inner turmoil.

Slowly, the others walked away, but I lingered for a moment longer, still gazing at the memorial and thinking of Jessica and the guys. Then I crouched down, letting the pleasant aroma of the flowers fill my nose as it lifted the weight from my shoulders. Before I stood back up, I said a few quiet words of my own, remembering the promise I had made to Jess before I'd been forced to leave her behind.

"You did your part, guys. You fought your battles. Now it's time for me to fight mine. So don't worry. I'll take it from here."

Straightening up, I reached out and put my hand on top of the sign for a moment and nodded. Then I turned to head back to the house to prepare for our rescue operation and found Tifa waiting for me a short distance away, her eyes dry and clear and a small smile on her face. She took my hand without a word, and together we left the garden and the memorial, ready now to go and save Aerith.


	17. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - SIXTEEN

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**SIXTEEN**

I looked at Cloud. "You're going after Aerith, right?"

We stood inside her house again, having said our goodbyes to Jess, Biggs, and Wedge not long ago. Elmyra had been right after all. It may have taken a little time, but making that memorial and being out there for a while had helped, just as she had said it would. Although the ache of loss still lingered in my heart, I felt like I could go on now. I felt like I _had_ to go on, actually, to keep moving, just as Biggs had said. And the first step was to save Aerith just as she had tried to save me.

Cloud nodded, and I continued. "I'm coming with you."

"We're going right into Shinra Headquarters," he said. "You gotta be prepared for the worst."

"I know. Right now, I feel like I have to push myself to the limit. If I stayed here… I'd go crazy."

As tempting and inviting as this house was, I knew I had to leave. I had to keep going, to turn my pain into some kind of action and face it head on. I couldn't do that here. And I couldn't stay behind with Aerith in danger. I knew what I had to do.

I tugged my gloves back on as I continued. "Aerith's my friend, and she put herself in danger to rescue me. I wouldn't be able to call myself her friend if I wasn't willing to do the same."

Just then, Barret came back downstairs from putting Marlene back to bed. He turned to Elmyra. "Sorry, but can you take care of Marlene a bit longer?"

She smiled. "Yes, I don't mind."

"Thanks. This place is dangerous now. You'd better go somewhere else. It ain't safe here no more."

"Yes, I believe you're right," she agreed. "But promise me that you'll come back to her. Don't get yourself killed."

He nodded. "I promise. And… thanks. For everything."

"It was my pleasure, Barret. Your daughter is a wonderful little girl, and I'll keep her safe. I have a sister who lives in Kalm. I think we'll go see her soon. And when we do, we'll take the memorial with us. I know we can find a place for it there. You'll be able to go and see it whenever you want. And be sure to visit us from time time."

"We will, don't you worry 'bout that," he said. "An' you take care of yourself, too, you hear?"

Elmyra laughed. "I always do. But thank you."

Taking our leave of her, we headed outside, pausing for a minute in the front yard as we pondered our next step. We had to get up onto the plate to save Aerith, but with the fall of Sector 7, that wasn't going to be easy. I glanced at Cloud. "How do we get to the Shinra Building?"

"There ain't no train that goes up there anymore…" Barret said.

Cloud shrugged. "I don't know yet."

"Well," I suggested, "let's go over to Wall Market. We might be able to find something there."

Cloud and Barret nodded, and we started walking, heading on into the slums and back toward the old highway. It was a quiet journey, but also a comfortable one. And thankfully uneventful. No pickpockets or monsters came out of the shadows to bother us, and they surely would have regretted it if they had.

I found another materia orb when we reached the old playground. It was Sense, it's yellow glow bright in the gloom. It's useful for finding out enemy strengths and weaknesses. I put it into an empty slot on my wrist guard as we headed down the dirt trail to Wall Market. I also kept my eyes away from the towering ruins of Sector 7, and so did the guys. We didn't need that sight in our minds right now.

About five minutes later, we stood at the entrance to Wall Market. The place still bustled with activity, but none of Corneo's thugs seemed to be around. I wondered what that could mean. There was no way he would have forgotten about us, but I didn't have any desire to pay him a visit, either. One venture into his mansion was more than enough for me. Still, I couldn't help wondering about it.

"So where do we start?" Cloud asked.

I pursed my lips in thought. "Why don't we ask around? There's got to be someone here that can help us."

Without waiting for him and Barret, I walked down the main road, an idea coming to mind. The guys followed me as I made my way over to our first stop, and I noticed Cloud's eyes widen a little as he realized where I was going. I stifled a giggle as I saw his sudden discomfort, but I still couldn't keep a small smile from my face. I hadn't been with him when he had made his first visit, but I could tell by his reaction that he had been here before. So, this was where he'd gotten it.

I entered the clothing store first, with Barret behind me and Cloud slowly coming in last. _Very _slowly. There were a few customers looking at the racks of dresses, shirts, and other things, and a woman about my age was busy working behind the counter along with an older man. By how closely they resembled each other, I figured he must have been her father. He looked up as we approached the counter, and when his eyes found Cloud, he nodded, obviously recognizing him.

"Name's Gant," the older man greeted us. "an' I'm the owner of this here shop, an' this is my daugher, Lina. Your friend there's already met us, miss. He tell you how he helped us out?"

I shook my head. "No, but if it has to do what what I think it does, then by doing that, he helped me, too."

"That what he wanted it for, then? Did seem a bit strange for a guy like him, but I ain't one to judge. I'm just glad it all worked out. For you as well as us. So what can I do for you, miss? An' where's that other girl, the one he was with before?"

"Well, that's why we're here, actually," I explained, hoping he could help. "She was taken by the Shinra, and we have to find a way to get up onto the plate to save her. Do you know how we could do that? All the roads have been cut off since Sector 7 fell."

Gant raised his bushy eyebrows. "Really, now? Well, I'm afraid I'm not really sure myself how to get there. There's all sorts of broken junk an' debris hanging down from there now. But I do know someone who might be able to help. Go talk to Marcus at the weapons shop. He's the one who owns all them piles of scrap outside his place, an' he scavenges whatever he can find. He might have found something in all that mess that can help you. But knowing him, I'm sure he won't just give it away. He'll want money for it, so be sure you've got some."

I smiled. "Thank you! We'll go see him right away."

"You're welcome," Gant replied. Then he turned to Cloud, who had stayed near the door the whole time. "Looks like you're dressed normal today. But if something else interesting comes up, let me in on it."

Cloud swallowed. "Ah, well… alright, I guess."

"Dressed normal?" Barret asked as we left the store. "The hell's that supposed to mean?"

"You don't want to know," Cloud grimaced.

I laughed, remembering how Cloud had looked in that dress when he'd come to save me in Corneo's palace. By the expression on his face, Cloud was thinking of it, too. Oh, if only I'd had a camera when he had come for me! But no, I couldn't embarrass him like that. I couldn't help laughing about it, though, remembering our little adventure there with Aerith. It felt good to laugh, especially after all that had happened. So I kept at it, nearly doubling over as it rolled out of me, and seeing Barret looking at me as though I'd gone crazy just made me laugh even harder until I could barely catch my breath.

Barret frowned. "What's so funny, Tif? Did I miss somethin'?"

"It… It's nothing," I panted, finally managing to compose myself a bit, but I couldn't keep from smiling. "Just a… little joke… between me and Cloud. Nothing… you need to worry about."

We headed on down the road until we reached the weapon shop, a small building off to the right with a pink neon sign glowing above the door. Large piles of assorted junk, metal, and other debris surrounded the place on either side, and a local bar and grill stood across the road, smells of food and alcohol drifting out through the open door, and my stomach rumbled. It had been hours since we'd last eaten.

As we went inside, the sounds of clanging metal and hissing sparks filled our ears as two men worked busily, one welding arms and armor and assembling other bits of junk into usable items while the other was behind the counter making sales, restocking the shelves, and more. We walked up to him, and Cloud tapped the little bell on the counter. The man looked up at us. "Yes? Can I help you?"

"Are you Marcus?" Cloud asked.

The man shook his head and pointed to his partner, who was busy working in another part of the shop. "No. That's him over there. If you need something special or unusual, he's the one to ask."

Cloud thanked him, then went to the other side of the shop to talk to Marcus. The bearded man paused in his work when he saw us. "You want somethin'? I don't wanna hear any complaints 'bout how things look, though. What can I do for ya?"

"We need to get onto the plate," Cloud said. "Got anything that can help us do that?"

"You better have batteries, then."

Barret stared at him. "Batteries? What for?"

"You'll find out when you get there," Marcus said. "How about 100 gil for each? I've got three here."

"You're gonna sell me something you just found?" Cloud asked.

Marcus shrugged. "Hey, you knew? I repaired them, though, so it's alright. So what'll it be?"

Cloud sighed and nodded, then paid him the money. Marcus gave him the three batteries, and he put them into his pocket. Then we took some time to look around the rest of the shop and buy a few supplies. I also bought a new pair of gloves. These were hardened leather, but they also had six-inch long claws of polished mythril fitted onto them. Very nice, and very deadly. I liked them already. We also each bought better wrist guards, these ones of mythril. They also had an extra materia slot compared to our old ones.

When we were all finished, we walked outside, then headed over to the bar. The owner told us that he'd seen some kids playing up the road and talking about climbing up to the plate, so we decided that it might be worth a look. After taking some time to eat and rest our feet, we left and went on, eventually stopping in front of Corneo's estate. There was a dirt path leading to the right, but we didn't go that way yet. Corneo's place looked utterly deserted, and I was curious to find out why. "What happened here?"

"I don't know," Cloud said. "Looks like nobody's home."

He brushed past the stalls and approached the front door. I walked just behind him, suddenly uneasy as I saw that the doorman was gone. It didn't make sense. Cloud tried the door, and it swung right open. He looked back at me, then headed inside. Barret and I followed after him, and we saw that the main room was empty as well. So was the room by the stairs. Corneo's office and bedroom were just as abandoned. Where was he? And why would he have just left? It seemed like his power over Walll Market was broken, but how?

We found Kotch in the basement, tied to the torture rack. His eyes lit up when he saw us. "Hey! You're… not them… you're… Please, help me! I… I was just following the Don's orders! Help me!"

I remembered how he had leered at me, but at the same time, I felt a little sorry for him. So with Cloud's help and under Barret's watchful eye, I untied his bonds. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, thanks!" Kotch said.

I nodded. "You're welcome. What happened to the Don?"

"After you all left, some Shinra guys came and forced themselves in here. They said that someone had leaked information and that we were 'good for nothings'. After that, they tried to take the Don, but he ran off somewhere before they could get him. I don't know where he went, but it's probably someplace far away from here. Then, they tied me up. And that's it. Anyway, I'm outta here! See ya!"

With that, Kotch sped up the stairs and was gone. Cloud and I just looked at each other. So, Shinra had come for Don Corneo, but he had escaped. I didn't like the idea of running into him again, but at least we knew that he wasn't anywhere close by. With that little mystery solved, we left the estate and followed that side path, and I gladly put the Don out of my mind as we looked at what was ahead of us.

The dirt path came to a dead end in a small clearing, and ahead of us stood a high concrete wall that rose fifty feet into the air. At its base sat a young girl, and farther above us loomed the wreckage of the plate where Sector 7 had torn away from Sector 6. From those jumbled ruins hung a long, thick cable that stretched all the way to the ground. When she saw us, the girl nodded and looked above her. "Everybody climbed up this wire. Looks scary…"

"Can we climb it?" I asked.

"Yeah," she answered. "It leads to the upper world."

Barret grabbed it immediately. "Awright! We'll climb the wire!"

"There's no way we can do this," Cloud argued. "You know how far up it goes?"

"There _is_ a way! Look! what's that look like?"

Cloud shrugged. "Just a normal wire."

"Oh yeah?" Barret snorted. "Well, to me it looks like a golden shiny wire of hope."

"I guess you're right. This is the only way to save Aerith. What you said was pretty corny, but I understand how you feel, Barret."

"So what are we waiting for?" I added.

Cloud took hold of the wire and nodded. "Let's go!"

* * *

It proved to be a long and fairly difficult climb, and once we got up to the ruins, we were able to let go of the cable and stand on the broken steel beams. We stopped for a moment to catch our breath, Tifa on one side while Barret stood on the other. I noticed that Tifa's eyes slid down almost on their own, and when she saw how high up we were, she took a few steps backward almost without realizing it.

"You don't like heights?" I asked.

She shivered. "Not really, no. They've always bothered me."

"Well, try not to look back down, then. We've still got a lot further to go before we get to the top."

"Don't remind me," she smiled weakly.

I smiled back. "It'll be alright, Tif. Come on, we'd better get going."

We made our way little by little up the hanging collection of debris, climbing slowly over broken cables, jagged slabs of concrete, and more. Sometimes we had to double back to find another way up, and it wasn't long before we came to our first roadblock.

We were standing atop a long, curving section of what might have been a sewer pipe that had probably been torn from within the plate by the fall and snagged in the debris. Parts of it were still slick with muck, and we all knew that one slip could send us on a very long fall down to the ground. Tifa was very deliberately keeping her eyes trained upward and forward, and I couldn't blame her.

Alongside the pipe, an old plane had also gotten tangled up in this mess, and just above it, a section of hanging train tracks that had been ripped out of one of the tunnels during Sector 7's collapse curved their way upward. But there was no way for us to reach them. They were just out of reach of the plane's nose.

"How we gonna get up there?" Barret wondered.

I wasn't sure at first, but then I remembered those batteries Marcus had sold to us. I took one out, looking for a way to use it, and then saw an open fuse box sitting nearby. I put the battery inside, and a moment later, the fuse box lit up and the plane's propeller began to spin. It only moved a little before stopping again a moment later, but it was enough to form a makeshift bridge.

We went on, climbing carefully up the tracks until we encountered a train still clinging to it, its lights flickering on and off. Faces lay in the windows. Faces of men, women, and children, all lifeless and frozen in expressions of abject terror. I shivered and looked away. The tunnel the train had been riding through must have broken apart beneath it when the plate collapsed, and everyone inside must have been killed when it fell and got caught here.

Alongside the train was another long stretch of sewer pipe. It hung down almost vertically and wouldn't be easy to climb, but this one was small enough that I thought we could manage it. If we could find a way to get to it, that was. The bottom of it was just out of reach. I looked up and around to see if there was anything that could help.

To our left, the tracks rose up over the top of a large piece of metal debris before dropping back down again, and a short distance above it, a much larger chunk of metal and concrete hung tangled with wires all around it. The sewer pipe was only a short distance across from it, and swinging in between them was a narrow piece of broken metal. And on the side of the tracks where they went over the debris was what looked to be a crossing gate of some kind. The arm was down, but if we could raise it somehow, I thought that we could climb further and swing over to the pipe using the broken metal beam.

"Maybe another battery here?" Tifa suggested.

I opened the back panel of the gate and put one in, and it hummed to life. Flipping the switch on top, I watched as the arm went up just as I'd thought it would. As carefully as we could, we stepped on top of the arm and climbed up to the large section of debris above it. Waiting for the dangling beam to get close, I jumped off right when it came within reach, grabbed it, and swung over to the sewer pipe. Then I turned and waited as Tifa and Barret did likewise.

Moments later, we were all on the pipe, and then we continued on, climbing further and navigating through the maze of fallen debris. We were almost there now, and I could see the edge of the plate not that far above us. We used our last battery to open up a small container on the way and found an ether, which I slipped into my pocket. Then we went on, climbing over and around any other obstacles in our path from one piece of debris to another as we made our way upward.

Finally, a few minutes later, we pulled ourselves onto the edge of an empty street and just sat there catching our breath for a moment. Then we got up, brushed ourselves off, and looked around. And there above us only a short distance down the road loomed the Shinra Building. As I gazed at it, I reached back to feel Buster's hilt, ready for the battles we would soon see. Tifa was raising her fists, the mythril claws of her new gloves shining, and Barret quickly slapped a fresh clip into his gun-arm and glared at the building ahead of us.

Together, the three of us hurried down the street, and it wasn't long before we all stood in front of the Shinra Building's main entrance. The imposing structure rose up high above us, and the front doors stood at the top of a short set of stairs at the back of a wide, curved landing. On either side, the building stretched out of sight as it bent around along a pair of narrow alleys, and yellow lights shone in countless windows up the towering height of the place.

Barret glanced at me. "Hey, you oughta know this building well."

"Not really," I shook my head. "Now that I think about it, this is the first time I've ever been to headquarters."

"I heard about this place before. Every floor past the 60th is special. They ain't easy to get into, even for the folks workin' there. That's gotta be where they took Aerith. Security's pretty light now, so let's go!"

Tifa grabbed his arm before he could move. "Wait a second! You're not thinking of just going right through the main entrance, are you?"

"What the hell else does it look like?" he protested. "I'm gonna kick some Shinra butt and–"

"That's not going to work! We've got to find another way!"

Barret shook his arm free. "Ain't gonna be no other way! If we keep wastin' time like this, Aerith'll–"

"I know that! But if we get caught here…" Tifa argued, then turned to me. "Hey, Cloud. What should we do?"

Although I understood Barret's position and wanted to help Aerith as much as he did, I felt that Tifa was right. I preferred to find another way in and avoid being discovered as long as possible until we rescued Aerith. Then we'd fight our way out if we had to.

"Let's sneak in quietly," I answered.

Tifa nodded and smirked at Barret. "See! Let's be careful and find a different route!"

What that might be, though, I didn't know. While Barret grumbled to himself and Tifa kept an eye on the main entrance, I looked around the area, hoping to find something useful or another way to get inside. I was just letting my eyes wander over the two alleys, first one and then the other, when suddenly I froze and my breath caught in my throat. In the alley to the left stood someone who shouldn't have been there, who couldn't have been there and who I was certain hadn't been there just a moment before. And yet she was there now.

Standing just a short way into the alley and just out of reach of the light from the building's main entrance was Jessie. But that couldn't be. It just couldn't. She was dead. I had watched her die, felt the heat from the explosion that had consumed her. And yet… there she was. I know what you're probably thinking, but I know what I saw. Jess stood there, her body unmarked by the injuries that had taken her life and her hair spilling down beneath her shoulders instead of in the ponytail she had always kept it in. And then I realized I could see through her, just a bit. I swear it was real, as real as anyone else I've ever known. But I've never spoken or written of it until just now.

As I watched in stunned disbelief, Jessie smiled at me, then turned and walked down the alley. Almost before I realized what I was doing, I followed her, ignoring the questioning looks Tifa and Barret gave me. I hurried to catch up to Jess, but she stayed well ahead of me, and then she disappeared as the alley curved around out of sight. I started to run after her, wanting to find her again even as I wondered what was really going on, my heart pounding both with exertion and from so suddenly seeing Jess again even in this strange way. She had appeared to me for a reason, but why? I didn't understand it.

When I hurried around the curve of the alley a few moments later, there was only a dead end, and Jess was gone. But off to my right, there was a small door with the words "STAIRWELL ACCESS" emblazoned across its metal surface. As Tifa and Barret caught up to me, I went and tried the handle of the door, and it swung open. Had Jess wanted me to find this? Had she led me here? I was sure of it, and as I stepped inside, I closed my eyes and thought of her, missing her more in that moment than I ever had and wondering if I would see her again. It felt almost as though she were still with me, somehow.

_Thanks, Jess…_

"You okay?" Tifa asked.

I opened my eyes again and nodded. "Yeah. Looks like I found us a way inside."

"Yo…" Barret glanced up, where the stairs rose high above us. "You really gonna take these stairs all the way up?"

Tifa sighed. "Well, we've got to get to Aerith to help her, somehow."

"Of all the outta the way…"

"I don't have time to argue with you!" she snapped. "I'm going!"

Without waiting for either of us, Tifa brushed past him and started up the stairs. Barret blinked. "Y-Yo, Tifa! Don't go alone!"

We headed after her, climbing what seemed like an endless amount of stairs. We had very long way to go, almost sixty floors worth of steps to travel. But I wasn't worried. Jessie had led me here for a reason, and Aerith needed us. And I wasn't going to let either of them down. I took each step one at a time and didn't think about how many we still had to go. Barret, though, wasn't having such a good time of it.

"Don't know… why… the hell… we gotta climb…" he huffed.

"Because we don't want to start a ruckus until after we save Aerith," I explained. "If that's possible…"

He chuckled. "Well, I'll be damned…"

"Knock it off, Barret. You're giving me the creeps."

"So even you will fight for someone else," he said. "Guess I figured you wrong."

"Who cares what you figured?" I snapped.

He grunted as he climbed. "I'm jus' sayin' maybe I was wrong…"

Tifa laughed. "It's about time…"

"What's that supposed to mean, Tifa?" I frowned.

But she didn't answer. Instead, she just kept on climbing, so Barret and I followed after her. For a while, none of us said anything, and the only sounds were our breathing and the steady thudding of our feet on the stairs. We didn't run, but we weren't walking, either. We moved at a brisk pace, and the higher we got, the more Barret started complaining. I didn't say anything, but Tifa wasn't so restrained.

"How much farther do these stairs go on?" Barret wondered.

She shrugged. "Why don't you ask them?"

He looked up. "It's not one of them endless stairways or somethin', is it? I hate them damn things…"

"Of course not!"

"Right," Barret said. "Couldn't be that. Are we there yet?"

Tifa shook her head. "Not yet."

It wasn't five minutes later that he asked again. "There yet?"

"I said not yet!"

"Yo…" he began not two minutes later.

Tifa stopped for just a moment and glared daggers at him over her shoulder. "Look, don't even ask! We're way, way, way, way, way far away from being there, okay?"

Barret sighed and nodded, and we got underway again. We kept on climbing, finding an elixir on the way on one of the landings. Someone had probably dropped it there without realizing it. An elixir was a very potent sort of potion that could completely revitalize a person and heal many injuries, although it still couldn't save someone from death if his or her wounds were fatal. As much as I wished I'd have had this on the pillar, it wouldn't have saved Jess. But it could still help us now, so I put it in my pocket and continued climbing.

After a while, Barret started in again. "Yo, what floor is this?"

"I stopped counting," Tifa shrugged.

"Well, when we get up top, tell me. I'm gonna throw up. Why they gotta make these buildings so damn tall? That Shinra… they're jus' no damn good."

Tifa nodded. "Can't argue with that…"

Barret went on, panting with every step, sweat beading on his skin. "Man, I'm beat…"

"Me too. We've got to keep going, though."

"Marlene," Barret panted, beads of sweat on his dark skin. "Daddy wanted to see your face one more time…"

Tifa whirled on him again, fire in her eyes. "Would you stop acting like a retard and climb!? It's just a bit more! Maybe…"

"Damn, man! I've had it! I'm going back!"

"It'll take just as long to go down as it did to come up," Tifa pointed out, and Barret let out an annoyed sigh.

We stopped for a moment on the stairs to catch our breath, Barret coming last and panting heavily. Tifa was in the lead, and she turned to us and put her hands on her hips as she glared at Barret. She was worn out too, but she seemed to be handling it a bit better than Barret was. I was barely even winded, myself, but I suppose that I had my SOLDIER training to thank for that.

"C'mon, Barret!" Tifa said. "Pull it together!"

He shook his head, still out of breath. "All I know is, I'm only flesh 'n' blood, 'cept for this arm of mine. Don't go treatin' me like I'm some ex-SOLDIER or somethin'…"

"What about me!?" Tifa argued. "I'm human, too! Oh, do what you want, I'm going on!"

She stopped after only going a few steps, though, and glanced over her shoulder down at herself and the back of her skirt. Then her cheeks suddenly turned beet red. "Yaah! Barret! You go first!"

"What are ya, ignorant?" he griped. Then he realized why Tifa was so embarrassed. "I didn't mean that…"

"Cloud, you go on ahead, too!" she said.

I didn't argue with her, although I did think she was overreacting a little. I hadn't even thought about her skirt and how short it was during our climb. But now that I did, I was starting to understand her feelings. She really ought to have known us better than that by now, though. We weren't about to go peeking under her skirt as she climbed up the stairs above us. But I supposed she couldn't help feeling a little self-conscious about it nonetheless.

We climbed the rest of the way in silence, and finally, after so many stairs that, like Tifa, I had long ago lost count, we reached the top. For a moment we just stood there, catching our breath again. Ahead of me, Barret was bent over with exhaustion.

"Finally… made it… Never wanna see… no more stairs the rest of my life… Not ever… again…"

Tifa smiled. "I'm beat… But here we are. We'd better get ready!"

Ahead of us was the door to the 59th floor. It stood closed, but after seeing how Jess had led me here, I was sure that it was unlocked just as the door at the bottom had been. As we stood there, we all exchanged a determined glance, putting the weariness of our long climb behind us. The first phase of our rescue mission was over. Now the hard part was about to begin. We readied our weapons, and after I slowly opened the door, we headed inside the Shinra Building.


	18. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - SEVENTEEN

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**SEVENTEEN**

We stepped into a wide, open area on the 59th floor with two sets of elevators, one directly ahead of us and the other off to our left. A short distance to our right sat two light green sofas in between a small table, but other than that, this floor was practically empty except for the trio of guards standing in front of the first set of elevators.

"Destroy the intruders!" one of them yelled when he spotted us.

I rushed at the guards, Buster already drawn, while Tifa raised her gloved fists and did likewise and Barret fired his gun-arm. The guards didn't last long under our combined assault. I brought one down with a series of quick slashes while Tifa took out another with a swift chain of punches, the mythril claws of her new gloves leaving bright red lines of blood in their wake with each hit. Barret leveled the last of the guards, peppering him with bullets until he fell limply to the floor.

Barret grinned. "Now that was a good warm-up! Right, Cloud?"

"It won't be that easy for long," I reminded him.

"Hell, I know that! Jus' a good start is all I'm sayin'. Man, you really gotta lighten' up sometime."

I shrugged. "I can when I want to."

Tifa bent over to inspect one of the down guards. "Well, if you two are through, I think I've found something."

"What have you got, Tif?" I asked.

She lifted her hand to show us a slim plastic card with the message "STANDARD ACCESS: FLOORS 1-60" imprinted upon it. "One of the guards was carrying this. I think it might be useful."

"We already on 59," Barret said. "That ain't gonna get us very far."

"I know, but maybe we can find something on 60 that'll help us go further than that."

I nodded. "Let's do it."

We went into the elevator, and the doors slid closed behind us. The lift was little more than a transparent tube of some hardened material, and beyond it we could see all of Midgar sprawled out below us. Lights flickered and glowed in the endless gloom like a forest of fireflies. Well, almost everywhere. Slightly to our right, the gaping hole that had once been Sector 7 lay shrouded in darkness, and I saw that Barret and Tifa avoided looking in that direction.

"This is the real thing," Barret said. "Don't let your guard down."

Tifa sighed. "I hope Aerith is alright."

"She is," I replied, leaving no room for argument.

Tifa nodded, then she slid the keycard into a slot next to the doors. When the control panel lit up, she pressed the button for the 60th floor, and a moment later, the elevator started to rise. We rode in silence, and I noticed that she kept her eyes fixed upon the level indicator and away from the view outside of how high up we were.

A chime sounded, and then the doors slid open. We went out into another largely deserted floor, only this one was divided by two rows of yellow pillars that stretched out across the area in between two closed-off rooms. A few guards stood in front of the closest line of pillars, but this time we crept out of sight before they could spot us. There was no way into the room on the right from here, so we snuck into the one on the left and didn't speak until the door closed behind us.

"Look at all them guards runnin' around out there," Barret said, his voice low as he peered out another door.

I followed his gaze, crossing the room to join him. Past the second row of yellow columns, a small contingent of guards marched endlessly back and forth along the back of the area, their eyes alert. Although we could have taken them out without much trouble, I didn't want to start another fight yet. I figured we could sneak past them if we waited until the right time to move.

Barret went on. "Cloud, go on ahead and signal us when it's safe to move. An' when them guards turn around, you'd better get your skinny ass in gear an' get movin'!"

"Stay in the shadows!" Tifa added.

Wondering just how I'd gotten volunteered for this job, I sighed as I crept out the door. As I watched the soldiers, I noticed they moved in a set pattern back and forth in two separate groups. A tall pedestal was set in between the first few yellow columns and the rest of them, and it was wide enough for all three of us to hide behind.

When the guards turned away, I snuck behind the first column and waited for them to move again. When they did, I hurried across to the next one, and from there to the pedestal. Once I was safely there, I held out my arm back toward others and motioned for them to join me one at a time, indicating when it was safe for them to move and when they needed to stop. Before long, we were all behind the pedestal.

From there, I crept out again when the guards weren't looking, and I made my way past the columns until I stood by the door to the other room. Then I turned back to the others, keeping an eye on the guards, and guided them safely over to where I was waiting. It didn't take long, and the soldiers never heard or saw us the whole time. We didn't speak again until we had gone into the room ahead of us.

"Okay!" Barret hefted his gun-arm. "Now we gonna rock!"

Tifa glanced at him. "Remember, Barret, we're here to save Aerith, not to try and take down Shinra all by ourselves."

"Hell, I know that!"

"Then let's keep moving," I added.

There were two escalators in the room, one going up and the other one down. We rode the first escalator up to the next floor and a similar room. The nearby door was unlocked, so we went cautiously through it and into the main area. A collection of tables and chairs were scattered all across the large room. Round ones filled the near half while longer, angled tables stretched along the height of the far side of the floor. All along the walls stood a number of potted plants, tall shrubs as green as the floor, and in the center of the room was a tree, a huge oak that rose up above everything else here.

All through the area, people bustled about or sat in the chairs, and I guessed that this floor must have been an employee lounge. We didn't seem to have attracted much attention, only a few curious glances cast in our general direction. I supposed that people came and went in this place all the time, and most of them were so wrapped up in their work and their own lives that they probably didn't give much thought to who else showed up here.

I glanced at Tifa and Barret. "Let's split up and take a look around. Try and find a way to get to the higher floors. Another keycard, maybe. We'll meet back here in fifteen minutes. Got it?"

They nodded, and we all wandered across the floor and tried to be as unobtrusive as possible. I walked around, not really sure where I was going but keeping my eyes alert nevertheless. I was just pausing to look at the tree again, thinking about how it was the only one I'd seen in the city, when a voice suddenly spoke up behind me.

"The hell are you?" It was a man wearing a dark gray business suit. "What're you doin' around here?"

I blinked, unsure what to say. "I was just…"

Before I could finish, the man's eyes suddenly lit up as though he'd just thought of something. "Oh, I know! You must be from that… what do you call it? Shinra Repair Division!"

"Yeah, that's right," I nodded.

"You know, this building looks like it's starting to fall apart. There's this door that was just pushed open. You ought to fix it right away! Oh, and take a look on the other floors, too. Here, take this."

The man gave me a slim card with the words "ARCHIVE ACCESS: FLOOR 62" imprinted on it. After I took the keycard, he walked away, and I made my way back to the escalator room. Barret and Tifa met me there a few minutes later, and I showed them what I'd found. It was just one more floor that we had access to now, but it would have to do. We'd just have search for a way to go further when we got upstairs.

The 62nd floor was largely deserted, with a few other rooms divided by narrow corridors. We walked through the halls, and as I peered into one of the open doorways, I saw shelves full of books standing in neat, orderly rows. The sign posted on the wall outside confirmed it was one of Shinra's research libraries. We went on until we found another room, smaller than the others. An older man stood by the door, poring over a stack of documents in his hands.

"How do you do?" he asked when he saw us. "This is the Mayor of Midgar's office. Mayor Domino is inside."

Barret frowned. "An' who are you?"

"I'm Deputy Mayor Hart. If you should have any other questions, feel free to ask me."

"Do you know who we are?" I asked.

Hart shrugged. "I can tell you're not Shinra employees, at least. But the Mayor told me someone might be coming."

Tifa blinked. "He did? How did he know?"

"I'm not sure. All I know is that Shinra thinks that some members of that AVALANCHE group may have survived the fall of Sector 7. I'm guessing that would be you."

We all glanced at each other. Did Shinra know we were here? That would certainly complicate things. But if they did, and this was all just a trap, why would Jess have shown me how to get inside? There had to be more going on. In any event, our goal hadn't changed. We were still going to save Aerith. We just had to keep our eyes open, because if was a trap, then Shinra would spring it sooner or later, and when they did, we would have to be ready. But I didn't think that Hart had anything to do with it, either. "You're not going to report us?"

"No," Hart replied. "The Mayor can explain further, but suffice it to say, Shinra's made a joke of his position. So he's quite resentful of them. He might even help you. So go on inside, it's quite alright."

We did, and a moment later, we stood in the Mayor's office. He got up from his desk and walked over to meet us, seeming almost eager as he approached us and rubbed his hands together. Domino looked at us from behind a pair of metal-framed eyeglasses. He was a lean, balding man maybe in his early fifties and wearing a crisp business suit and tie, and he greeted us with a sly, knowing grin.

"You all must be those… ahem…" he began with a discreet cough, then continued. "Me? I'm Domino, the Mayor of Midgar. Actually, I'm just the Mayor in name only. The city and everything in it is really run by Shinra. And you can see how well that's working out."

Barret grimaced. "Yeah, I know. They're runnin' everythin' into the goddamn ground. So what do you do here, then?"

"Oh, it's quite dull, really. My only real job is watching over Shinra's documents. Me! The Mayor! A librarian! Oh, joy…"

"Can you help us get upstairs?" I asked.

Domino thought for a moment and then nodded. "You want to get upstairs? I tell you what. If you can guess the password, I'll give you my keycard. Get it on the first try and I'll even throw in something special! How's that sound?"

We didn't have much of a choice, and we knew it. "Alright. How do we figure it out?"

"Just check the libraries. Hart can explain further."

As it turned out, Domino was right. We left his office and spoke to Hart again, and he explained about the Mayor's little game. Apparently, four different files had been deliberately placed in libraries where they didn't belong just before we had arrived here, and each one held a letter of Domino's password in its title. So all we had to do was enter each of the four libraries, find the right file, and then find the right letter using the file's reference number.

We split up so we could get this ridiculous game of his done faster, and then we searched the fourth library together. It didn't take as long as I'd thought it would, and I suspected that Domino might have made it fairly easy on purpose. Hard enough to slow us down for little while, but not so hard as to keep us from moving on, either.

"BOMB," I told him when we returned to his office.

"BOMB!" he echoed. "God, I love the sound of that! I'm so angry, I'm like a walking time bomb waiting to explode! Well, okay. Here, take it. You've earned it."

He handed me his keycard, which was imprinted with the message "EXECUTIVE ACCESS: FLOORS 63-65" in small, black type. I took it, slipped it into my pocket, and wondered what else he was going to give us. He'd mentioned something about an extra prize if we got it right on our first attempt, after all.

"I never thought you'd actually get it on the first try," he said. "Just goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover. Oh, well. A promise is a promise. Take this, too."

Domino held out a small blue materia orb, and I took it gratefully. "Thanks. Why are you helping us, though?"

"For revenge, of course!" he explained. "Shinra's been torturing me forever. I was a little rough on you all just now by making you play my little game, but that was my way of paying you back for what you did to the reactors and the people who died because of it. But even so, I can't excuse what Shinra did to Sector 7 in response. So I want you to go up there and really make them suffer!"

Barret hefted his gun-arm. "We will, dontcha worry 'bout that, Mr. Mayor! We really gonna light things up!"

"Mayor Domino," Tifa cut in, glaring at Barret as she did so, "What floor would any prisoners be kept on? Do you know?"

He nodded. "Ah, so that's why you're here, to rescue that Ancient. I believe she's being held on the 67th floor. But my card will only get you to the 65th floor. Can you believe how they treat me? Me! Like I'm some common employee!"

"I know. Thanks for all your help, Mr. Mayor. Oh, by the way, what kind of materia was that?"

"Elemental," he explained. "I don't know much about how it works, though. Nabbed it from the science lab the other day when I managed to sneak up there. I hope it helps you cause Shinra some pain!"

We left and hurried back to the escalator. Now we knew what floor we had to get to. Playing Domino's game might have cost us some time, but we had gotten some valuable information out of it in the end. Now that I understood why he had put us through all that to get it, though, I found I didn't blame him.

We rode up to the 63rd floor, and I was just about to move on to the next escalator to continue our ascent when I saw something out of the corner of my eye and turned around. My heart beat faster as I caught a glimpse of Jessica. As her translucent form walked slowly past the open doorway, she turned her head for a moment and looked at me without stopping, a tender smile on her face as she went.

I bolted after her, hurrying through the door and ignoring Tifa and Barret as they called out after me. I turned right and saw Jess moving a short distance ahead of me as she walked around a corner at the end of the hallway I was in. I followed her, and when I came around the bend in the corridor, I saw her walk into another open doorway, this one on my right just a short distance away.

But when I entered the room myself, she was gone.

I didn't leave right away, though. I knew Jess had led me here for a reason. I just had to figure out what it was. The room was lit by the soft blue glow of a nearby computer screen, a pale blue like a summer sky. I stood there and looked around, searching for anything Jess might have wanted me to find or see. A tall air duct stood against the back wall by the computer, and on the other side was what looked like some kind of dispenser unit. And when I stepped closer to it, I saw an object lying in the unit's bin as if it had been waiting there for me.

I picked it up and gazed at it. It was a pendant made of mythril and crafted into the shape of a five-pointed star. It felt warm in my hand as I held it. I had heard of items like these before. They were imbued with a touch of mako and could protect you from any poison. I held it up in front of me and knew Jessie had wanted me to have this. Why that was, I didn't know yet, but I was sure she'd had a reason. I lifted the pendant with its shining mythril chain up over my head and hung it around my neck as Tifa and Barret finally caught up to me.

"Yo, Cloud, why'd you run off like that?" Barret griped.

"Sorry," I shrugged. "Thought I saw something and went off to see if I could find it. Found this instead."

I showed them the pendant, then slipped it inside my shirt so it lay against my skin. As we headed back to the escalator room, I thought of Jess and wished she was still alive and with us. It hurt to know that she was gone, that I would never be able to hold her again, or talk with her, that I would never be able to explore what we might have had together. But… a part of Jessica was still with me, it seemed. I didn't understand it, but I was glad for it nonetheless.

We skipped the 64th floor and headed straight up to floor 65. This floor had several small rooms and one larger room in the center. Inside it was a scale model of the entire city about twenty feet in diameter, but it seemed to have some pieces missing from it. I sighed, not wanting to waste time playing another game, but the lockbox by the escalator had been sealed tight, and it was my guess that another keycard was inside it. So somehow, we had to put this thing back together. It was probably some kind of bizarre security measure, and I couldn't help but wonder whose demented mind had thought this up.

At first we spread out, as I had thought that if we were able to find all the pieces first, we could just bring them all into the large room and fix the model right then and there and be on our way. But it didn't turn out to be that easy. There were boxes in each room, but only one would unlock at a time. So we had to find each piece one by one, and when it was fitted into the model, whatever sensor device was embedded into it would send out some kind of signal to open the next box. It didn't take long to finish, and after I had put the last piece in place, a light flashed from the replica of Shinra Headquarters on the model as something in it clicked and the whole thing hummed with energy.

We headed back to the escalator room, and the lockbox that sat in the corner opened easily this time, and just as I had thought, a keycard lay inside. Across it, the words "CONFERENCE ACCESS: FLOOR 66" were imprinted in black letters. One step closer to Aerith. As I took it, I heard Barret grumbling behind me.

"Gettin' tired of playin' all these damn games," he muttered.

I nodded. "I know how you feel, Barret, but we're making progress. We're almost there. Just a little longer."

"How are we going to get out once we find her?" Tifa asked.

"One step a time, Tif," I answered. "Let's find Aerith, and then we'll worry about how to get the hell out of here. But it _is_ a good question. I wish I had more of an answer for you."

Tifa smiled. "It's alright, Cloud. I know you'll figure it out."

"No pressure there," I smirked.

* * *

When we got up to the 66th floor, we crept outta the escalator room and headed around to a long hallway. There was two other rooms here, one on either side of the one we came from, jus' offices an' such. But as we passed one of 'em, we overheard part of a conversation between two Shinra workers, an' what they were talkin' 'bout got our attention right away. We stopped jus' past the door an' listened.

"They're having another executive meeting," a guy in a suit said. "I wonder if it's about that plate incident?"

His pal nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

"Hey, when you're in the bathroom, do you hear whispers coming from somewhere?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it, I do. Weird, huh? And is it just me or does the conference room smell? There's a really bad stench coming from somewhere…"

We went on down the hall a bit, then I turned to Cloud an' Tifa, an idea comin' to mind. "Hey, let's check out that bathroom. Might find us a way to eavesdrop on that meetin' they was talkin' 'bout."

"Good idea," Cloud agreed. "Let's go."

We followed the hall to the end, and when it split off to the left an' right, we went right. The doors to the conference room were locked as we passed 'em. When we ran into a young secretary carryin' some files, she told us where to find the bathroom when Cloud asked her 'bout it. Didn't take long to get there after that. We jus' made a right at the next intersection and went to the last room on this side of the floor. Nobody seemed to pay much attention to us, an' I wasn't sure whether I should relax or be worried. Wasn't much I could do either way, so I put it outta my mind as we went into the bathroom.

When we went into one of the stalls, we found an open grate in the ceiling above the toilet. And damn, did it smell. After flushin' it, Cloud stepped onto the seat and pushed open the grate. Then we crawled into the air duct on the other side 'til we was all inside. There was only one way we could go from there, so we followed the duct, an' after jus' a few minutes, we came to another grate, this one overlookin' the conference room. An' I froze when I saw who was in there.

"Geez!" I gaped. "That's a lotta suits!"

Four men and one woman was sittin' around the conference table. At the head of it was President Shinra himself, puffin' one of his cigars an' lookin' out at his cronies with them cold blue eyes of his. Rage filled my gut as I looked at him, an' it only grew when I saw Heidegger sittin' on his right next to that fat oaf Palmer. I hadn't forgotten 'bout Sector 7 an' knew that black-bearded son of a bitch had been behind that whole goddamn mess. I hated that friggin' bastard.

Across from them on the President's left was Scarlet, Shinra's head of Weapons Development. I'd heard of her, now that I thought about it. Scarlet was utterly ruthless an' loved killin' and thinkin' up new ways of doin' it. She wore a dark red slip dress that made her look more like she was a Wall Market whore than one of Shinra's top execs. Her blond hair was pulled back into a tight bun, an' she watched everythin' with cruel, dark eyes an' a vicious grin.

Sittin' next to her was Reeve, Shinra's head of Urban Development. Him I didn't know much about, actually. He wore a dark blue overcoat, a white button-down shirt, an' a black tie. A short black goatee covered his chin, matchin' the hair on his head. Reeve looked younger than the rest besides Scarlet, an' he seemed like he might be the sanest one outta the whole bunch, but he was still a Shinra, an' I didn't trust none of 'em. Especially after what they'd done to Sector 7.

"We have the damage estimates for Sector 7," Reeve said, shufflin' a stack of papers in front of him. "Considering those factories we already set up and all the investments, the damage is approximately 10 billion gil. The estimated cost to rebuild Sector 7 is–"

"We're not rebuilding," President Shinra cut him off.

Reeve stared at him. "What?"

"We're leaving Sector 7 just as it is," President Shinra went on. "And restarting the Neo-Midgar plan."

"Then the Ancients…?" Reeve asked.

The president grinned like a shark. "The Promised Land will soon be ours. I want you to raise the mako rates 15% in every area."

"Rate hike! Rate hike!" Palmer cheered, bouncin' like a damn fool. "And please include our Space Program in the budget!"

President Shinra shook his head. "Reeve and Scarlet will divide the extra income from the rate increase."

Reeve didn't look too happy 'bout it. "Sir. If you raise the rates, the people will lose confidence…"

"It'll be alright," the president sneered. "The ignorant citizens won't lose confidence. They'll trust Shinra even more."

"After all, we're the ones who saved Sector 7 from AVALANCHE!" Heidegger laughed.

My blood boilin', I clenched my good hand into a fist an' jus' barely kept myself from shootin' him. "That goddamn son of a bitch!"

I thought of Jess and all that she'd told me about her old man. Since the Turks was under his command, I knew he was responsible for what had happened. It was 'cause of him that Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge was… was dead. An' so many other people, too. Heidegger had killed his own daughter jus' to keep a hold on his power. Damn, I was so pissed. Tifa an' Cloud was, too. The way their eyes narrowed when they heard that bastard's words showed me that clearly enough. Cloud looked ready to jump on down there himself an' start slashin' away. Only Tifa's hand on his shoulder kept him in control.

Jus' then, someone else entered the room, a skinny scientist wearin' a white lab coat an' thick eyeglasses. He had long black hair pulled into a thin ponytail and a hawk-like nose. It was Hojo, head of Shinra's dirty Science Department. They did all kinds of weird experiments in there, an' it was them that turned people into SOLDIER warriors. I glanced at Cloud an' blinked. He stared at the man for a minute like he knew him, then shook his head, his face utterly blank. The hell was goin' on there? I hoped he wasn't havin' another fit. Cloud was a bit of a basket case at times, I tell ya. 'Course none of us knew why at the time, not even him. That came a lot later and a lot farther away from where we was. An' I'm gettin' ahead of myself again. Sorry 'bout that.

"Hojo," President Shinra asked. "How's the girl?"

The thin man's voice was barely more than an icy whisper when he answered. "As a specimen, she is inferior to her mother. I'm still in the process of comparing her to Ifalna, but for now the difference is 18%."

"How long will the research take?"

Hojo sighed. "Probably 120 years. It's likely impossible to finish in our lifetime. Or the lifetime of the specimen too, for that matter. That's why we're thinking of breeding her. Then we could have one that could withstand our research for a long time."

President Shinra frowned. "What about the Promised Land? Won't that hinder our plans?"

"That's what I need to figure out. The mother is strong, and yet she does have her weaknesses."

"That concludes our meeting," the president said.

With that, all them suits got up an' left. All but Scarlet. She glanced up at the ceiling for a moment an' sniffed. "Something stinks…"

Then she was gone, too. I looked at Cloud. "What now?"

"They were talking about Aerith, right?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I dunno."

"Probably," Tifa said. "It makes the most sense."

Cloud nodded. "Let's follow Hojo, then. He may lead us straight to her. He knows where she is, at least."

We headed back through the duct, dropped into the bathroom, an' crept into the hall. From there, we snuck back the way we'd come 'til we was jus' around the corner from the conference room doors. A minute later, Hojo came out, walkin' down the hall toward the escalator room, so we followed after him, stayin' back as far as we could, jus' enough to keep him in sight. When Hojo went inside an' rode up to the 67th floor, we waited a minute or two, then rode up ourselves. We'd come a pretty long way, but nothin' could've prepared us for what was waitin' upstairs in Shinra's dark an' twisted Science Division.


	19. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - EIGHTEEN

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**EIGHTEEN**

When Hojo passed through the door at the top of the escalator on the 67th floor, he left it open, so we followed as quietly as we could and kept a safe distance behind him. We shadowed him as he went down a long, curving hallway, and around the corner, another hall split off in a right angle from the first one while ahead of us, Hojo continued on his way through another door where the first corridor kept on going until it turned and went out of sight.

"Yo," Barret whispered. "Where's this passage lead?"

I saw a door standing a short distance away on the right side while the hall kept going before turning to the right farther down. There was only one place this could be. Hojo would have only gone to the science labs, and I knew this wasn't it.

I looked back at Barret. "This has to be the security office, and the cells must be at the end of this hall."

"Then what are we waitin' for? Let's go get Aerith!"

"Wait, Barret," I shook my head. "I'm not so sure that she's in there. Hojo was going to run some sort of experiment on her, remember? So let's keep following him."

He nodded, and we went through the doorway that Hojo had gone through not long ago. The hall continued for a short distance, passing a small office before it curved to the right and opened up into a large, semispherical storage room. Dozens of wooden crates were stacked all along the left, curved wall, and in the middle of it was a cylindrical lift of thick glass. Hojo was standing in front of it and gazing at something that looked like a panther with fiery orange fur. One amber eye glared balefully at him, but the other was scarred shut from an old wound. Its tail was the oddest thing. The tip of it actually seemed to be on fire, but the creature didn't act as if it was in any pain.

A man stood near Hojo. "Is this today's specimen?"

"Yes," Hojo answered. "We'll begin right away. Raise it to the upper level as soon as possible."

After his assistant nodded and left, Hojo gazed at the strange beast in the lift. "My precious specimen…"

Then he left as well, walking past tall stacks of crates and riding an elevator up to the 68th floor. After Hojo was gone, we entered the room ourselves and looked around. At first, I went with Tifa as she went and took a closer look at the creature Hojo had been so interested in. As we looked at it, it gazed back at us with its single eye, and I wondered how intelligent it was. It was no ordinary animal, I could tell that right away. I had never seen anything like it.

"Precious specimen…?" Tifa wondered. "Is it going to be used in a biological experiment?"

"Seems that way," I answered.

I didn't like the idea any more than she did. Maybe there was a way to help this creature as well as Aerith, although I didn't know how just yet. But before I could think on it any further, something else suddenly caught my attention, a domed storage tank on the far side of the room opposite the lift. I walked over to it, strangely curious without knowing quite why, and when I saw what was engraved on a plaque fixed to the thick metal door in bold, stark letters, my eyes widened.

"Jenova…" I breathed.

My heartbeat was loud in my ears as I approached the tank, drawn by an impulse I could neither explain nor resist. I had to know. I had to be sure. Drawing close to the hatch, I gazed into the window, knowing what I would see and yet afraid just the same. Inside the tank, within a murky, purplish fluid, floated the monstrous creature whose name was written upon the hatch. Jenova. Mottled, pale blue skin covered a body that resembled a woman's but was far from human, and a pair of short, dark red wings of tough, leathery hide sprouted from its back. Its most unusual feature, though, was its head. Or rather, its lack of one. I knew exactly what had happened, of course. The memory was there, clear in my mind, seared into it like the fire that had scorched my hometown. I could barely breathe as I looked upon the horrid thing that was Jenova, and the dark memories of that day nearly overwhelmed me. Pain arose in my head again, and I clutched my temples, wincing as though a drill was driving right through them.

I fell back, stumbling to the floor, my gaze still riveted on the tank. "Jenova… Sephiroth's… So… they've brought it here…"

"Cloud!" Tifa took my shoulders. "Be strong!"

With an effort, I pulled my gaze away from the storage tank until I found Tifa's red, wine-colored eyes. I clung to them and to her, grateful for her presence, and I let her help me back to my feet. I didn't let go of her hand right away, though. Somehow, I was afraid if I did, I would be sucked back into the sight of the horror in the tank. I didn't know why it had such a strong pull on me. But as I stood there with Tifa's hand in mine and her eyes on me, I felt the pain subside.

"Did you see it?" I asked her and Barret.

He blinked. "See what?"

"In the tank. It's moving… Is it still alive?"

Barret took one look through the hatch's window and then stepped back, shaking his head in disbelief. "Where the hell's it's friggin' head!? This whole thing's stupid. Let's jus' keep goin'."

I nodded, and we moved on, heading down a short hall made up of two rows of stacked crates. But no sooner had we entered the area with the elevator than a pair of guards leaped out at us from where they had been posted. My eyes narrowed as I recognized their uniforms at once and I realized these were no ordinary Shinra troops.

They were from SOLDIER.

Third Class, judging by their dark blue outfits and domed helmets. They were the lowest rank and the most commonly seen, but still very dangerous. Everyone in SOLDIER possessed extensive training in how to use both materia and weapons, and although we outnumbered them here, I still worried for Tifa and Barret. This was their first time against anyone from SOLDIER, and I hadn't been kidding when I'd told Barret in the basement of the _Seventh Heaven_ how deadly they were. My hand flew to Buster and pulled it free as they closed in.

I whipped up Buster just in time to block a vicious forehand swipe from the nearest SOLDIER, metal clanging on metal as our blades met. The sound of some demented popcorn machine filled the air as Barret opened up with his assault gun, spraying bullets at the other SOLDIER and Tifa crushed his ribs with a series of quick punches and followed it up with a brutal, spinning roundhouse kick.

While I spun low and sliced at the SOLDIER who had attacked me, the other one staggered back, then let loose with a sudden blast of cold that threw Tifa across the floor. She landed on her back with a muffled groan but sprang to her feet a moment later, hitting her opponent with a blizzard spell of her own while Barret kept shooting. The SOLDIER managed to block most of the shots, but a few grazed his arm, and Tifa took full advantage of the opening to hit him right in the face with one of her forward somersault kicks. Then there was a flash of yellow light as she raced back at him and snatched his sword right out of his hands as he fell to the floor, and another hail of bullets from Barret made sure that he wouldn't be getting up again.

My own strike came up short as the SOLDIER I was fighting swept his sword up to meet mine, but at the same time, he couldn't get any of his own attacks in, either. He was pretty good, but he wasn't First Class. I was. I dropped my elbow slightly when I blocked his next attack, and when he sliced at that side as I knew he would, my sword met his with a loud clang. I feinted to the left, and he started to bring his weapon up to intercept just as I'd expected. With a small smirk, I abruptly reversed the stroke and cut Buster across to the right instead, slashing open the man's chest as he suddenly realized his mistake. He collapsed in a heap as Barret finished off the other guard.

"Not bad, Barret," I said. "Looks like you beat your first SOLDIER. Gotta be pretty tough to do that."

He grinned. "What'd I tell ya, Spike?"

"Nothing's going to keep us from saving Aerith," Tifa added. "Not even SOLDIER."

"Right," I agreed.

She held out the sword she'd stolen. "I thought you might like this, Cloud. Take a look."

I did, slipping Buster back in its harness and taking the new sword she offered me. It was as large as my old one, but the edges of the blade were curved inward, and the end of it was flat and as hard as adamant. It had a good, sharp edge, too. And then a name came to mind, simple but perfect, and I grinned.

"I like it, Tif. Thanks. I think I'll call it… Hardedge."

I took a few practice swings with it, getting a feel for my new blade as Tifa returned my smile with her own and healed her wounds with a touch of magic from her Cure materia. When I went to check the slots on Hardedge, I found one already filled. A small green orb gleamed in the dimness of the storage area, and after a moment of concentration, I knew it was Poison materia. It could be useful against certain enemies, including humans, though it wasn't something I was fond of using. But I wouldn't hesitate to use it if I had to. I removed my Lightning materia from Buster and placed it into Hardedge as well.

Once we were ready, we rode the elevator upstairs to the 68th floor and Shinra's main science lab. We stepped out into a large room, again shaped vaguely like a half circle and with an elevated catwalk along the left side. A control booth sat in the middle of the catwalk, and steps to our left at both ends led up to the metal walkway. Opposite the control booth, across a short bridge with metal railings on either side, stood a second clear cylindrical chamber like the one we had seen below us on the 67th floor. Nearby stood Hojo, but I was hardly aware of him as my eyes locked onto the person within the testing chamber.

"Aerith!" I yelled.

Hojo glared at us over his shoulder. "Aerith? Oh, is that her name? What do you want?"

"We're taking Aerith back."

"Outsiders…" Hojo muttered.

Barret brought up his gun-arm. "Shoulda noticed it earlier, you..."

"There are so many frivolous things in this world," Hojo sneered, seemingly unfazed by Barret's threat. "Are you going to kill me? I don't believe that would be a good idea. The equipment in here is extremely delicate. Without me, who could operate it? Hmm?"

I grimaced, seeing Hojo's threat for what it was. Barret snarled and lowered his arm, grumbling under his breath as Tifa watched it all with narrowed eyes and clenched fists.

Hojo grinned cruelly. "That's right. I recommend you think things out logically before you make any rash moves."

He shouted an order to his assistant, and the man hurried into the control booth and began pressing buttons. A moment later, there was a loud humming as the floor in the center of the cylindrical test chamber lowered out of sight for a moment while Aerith stood with her back to the transparent wall. We all watched as the floor rose up again, but this time it wasn't empty. The red pantherlike creature stood upon it, its eye gazing at Aerith, and then it bared its teeth.

"What do you think you're doin'?" I demanded.

Hojo shrugged. "Lending a helping hand to an endangered species. Both of them are on the brink of extinction. If I don't help, all of these animals will disappear."

"Animal?" Tifa snapped as we all hurried over to where Aerith was being held. "That's terrible! Aerith is a human being!"

"You're gonna pay!" Barret spat.

Aerith turned around to face us and started pounding on the glass wall while the panther growled at her. "Cloud, help!"

"Barret!" I looked at him. "Is there anything you can do?"

He nodded, brought up his gun-arm again, and aimed it at the test chamber door's lock panel. "Awright! Step back!"

I did, pulling Tifa with me as Aerith quickly moved aside, and then Barret let loose, firing a stream of bullets and blowing the lock panel to pieces in a flurry of sparks. The chamber filled with blue light so bright that for a moment, we couldn't see anything inside.

Hojo ran to the door, his eyes wide and frantic. "Wh-What are you doing? Oh! My precious specimens!"

Then the light vanished as the test chamber's door slid open. Hojo barely had time to emit a single startled squawk before the red panther leaped onto him, snarling and growling and, I realized, keeping him so busy fending off the beast's claws that he couldn't keep his attention on anything else, including us.

"Now's our chance to get Aerith!" I told the others.

Not wasting a second, I raced into the chamber and helped Aerith get back to her feet. She must have fallen backwards during the ruckus, but she was thankfully unhurt. I was relieved but also a little perplexed to see that. I knew the panther could have easily torn her apart with its sharp teeth and claws, but she didn't have so much as a mark on her. It was odd, but figuring it out could wait for now.

"Thanks, Cloud," Aerith smiled.

I nodded to her, but something else caught my attention then. The lift was humming again. Something else was being brought here, and I didn't think it would be as helpful as the panther. I motioned for Aerith to head out of the test chamber, and she did while I backed slowly away from the lift and kept myself between it and her.

"Cloud," Tifa asked. "What's wrong?"

I tightened my grip on Hardedge. "The elevator's moving again."

A moment later, a huge, monstrous creature rose into view. It was covered in a tough reddish-purple hide, and its thick legs ended in two sets of rootlike feet. Sitting atop its right shoulder was a grotesque and vastly oversized mouth filled with shark-like teeth, and from its right hand grew three long, spindly claws. Its left arm was a bulbous mass of tissue ending in three short, stubby talons. Three smaller creatures that looked something like giant yellow ladybugs with a single bluish-green eye in front scuttled near the larger beast. When the panther heard the monsters coming, it jumped off of Hojo and turned around to face me. Its one eye locked on the approaching monsters, it did something then that almost made me drop my sword in shock.

"This beast is rather strong," the panther said. "I'll help you out."

Tifa's jaw dropped. "It talked!?"

"I'll talk as much as you want later, miss."

"We'll handle the monster," I said. "Barret, take Aerith somewhere safe! Take care of her!"

Barret nodded. "You got it, Spike!"

"What's your name?" I asked the fiery red panther while Barret led Aerith a safe distance away.

"Hojo has named me Red XIII," he said. "A name with no meaning whatsoever to me. Call me whatever you wish. As for our enemy, Hojo created it. I believe he calls it Sample H0512."

I hefted Hardedge. "We'll call it dead in a minute! Come on!"

We fell back as the monsters emerged from the testing chamber, as it would be easier to fight them outside the confines of the lift. I rushed straight for H0512 while Tifa pummeled the smaller creatures with her fists in a deadly combo, the mythril claws of her gloves tearing into the soft flesh of the monsters. One of them shuddered and collapsed, while another was ripped apart by a few swipes of Red's paws, his own sharp claws unsheathed as he growled low in his throat.

In the meantime, I swept Hardedge across in a backhand slash that cut across H0512's tough hide and drew a line of thick black blood. It wasn't a deep wound, though, and the thing shrugged it off and lunged at me with its misshapen arms. I dodged easily and scored another hit, but again the monster barely noticed. This time, it moved its arms in a circular motion, and with a few sparkles of magical energy, the smaller creatures Tifa and Red had dispatched somehow reformed and stirred to life again. One flashed for a moment, and then a sudden burst of fire erupted around Tifa and she cried out in pain.

Then there was a flash of green light from the feathered headdress Red wore, and the creature squealed as it was scorched by a fiery blast. It seemed like Red had materia as well and knew how to use it. He was even more intelligent than I had imagined, and I was glad to have him as an ally. Then I saw the telltale green sparkles of Cure magic floating around Tifa as she used her healing magic, and I let out a sigh of relief. One less thing to worry about.

Before we could do anything else, though, H0512 suddenly spewed a cloud of noxious purple vapor that enveloped all three of us. Tifa and Red both sank down and started coughing uncontrollably, their bodies wracked with spasms, but I was completely unaffected. At first, I didn't know why, but then as I felt the star pendant warming against my skin, I understood and whispered a few words of thanks to Jess for her help. She had known, although I didn't know how. And I didn't care. All that mattered was that even now, even from beyond death, she was looking out for me, for all of us.

I still had some of the antidotes Biggs had given us, so I hurried to Tifa and Red and gave one to each of them as I shrugged off a fire spell from one of H0512's pets and dodged a blow from another one. Within moments, both Tifa and Red straightened and relaxed as the antidotes purged the toxin from their systems. Then a fresh, familiar breeze blew around us, sweeping the noxious purple cloud away as its magic healed our wounds. I didn't need to look up to know Aerith had come back in spite of what I'd told her and Barret.

"You never do what you're told, do you?" I grinned.

Aerith laughed. "Only when I feel like it."

"This thing brought back those little ones we killed earlier," I went on as Barret joined us. "So focus on the big one."

Red called to us while fighting one of the smaller monsters. "I will keep these busy while the rest of you concentrate on H0512."

"Not by yourself, you won't," Tifa cut in, handing the Cure materia to Aerith. "I'll help you out, Red."

I looked at Barret and Aerith. "Alright, let's get to it. Barret, you're with me. Aerith, stay back and cover us. Keep us on our feet."

"Always," she winked.

Damn, but it was good to have her back. I had missed her, but now wasn't the time to think on it. While Barret opened up with his assault gun and Tifa and Red kept the smaller monsters at bay with a mixture of kicks, claws, punches, and spells, I ran in and slashed H0512 first to the right, then the left, spinning from one side to the other as I dodged beneath its own lumbering swings while Aerith used her healing magic to patch up any injuries the enemies managed to inflict on us.

Although I was slashing H0512 fast and hard and Barret was filling it with bullets, it still wouldn't go down. Hojo's experimental beast was tough, and we had to take it out before it could breathe that poisonous vapor cloud again. Backflipping away from H0512 for a minute, I drew Buster and rushed back in, Buster in my left hand and Hardedge in my right. I hit the monster with a series of spinning slashes, one blade after the other, slicing at it again and again while Barret kept the pressure on from the other side with his gun-arm.

Then it caught both swords in its hands, and for a moment we just stood there, pushing against each other, Buster's blade held fast by one monstrous hand while it seized Hardedge firmly in the other. But then I smirked and let go of my weapon hilts, smashing the beast in the jaw with a leaping somersault kick. While the monster roared and released my swords, I grabbed them while I was still upside down in midair and plunged them into H0512's chest just as my feet hit the ground.

Hojo's twisted creature shuddered, gurgled, and finally died, and as I withdrew my swords, H0512's pets collapsed and lay still. I slid Buster back inside its harness as the others gathered around me, and I glanced at Aerith as she drew near. "Aerith, you alright?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Cloud."

"She seems alright…" Tifa agreed. "In many ways."

I wasn't sure what she meant by that, but I supposed it didn't really matter. Barret, the girls, and I all turned to look at the newest member of our group as Red sat on his haunches. "I have a right to choose, too. I don't like two-legged things."

"What are you?" Barret asked.

"An informed question," Red replied. "But difficult to answer. I am what you see. I know you must have many questions. But first, let's get out of here. I'll lead the way."

Aerith smiled at me. "Cloud… so you did come for me."

"You had any doubt?" I quipped.

"Not at all," she laughed.

She stepped back when Red got up, but he simply looked at her. "I apologize for what happened back there. I was merely acting to throw Hojo off guard. Please forgive me for scaring you."

Screwing up her courage, Aerith approached Red, then knelt down in front of him and gently patted his nose. "It's alright. Red, was it? You don't seem so bad. I'm Aerith."

After the rest of us had introduced ourselves to Red, Barret looked around nervously. "Now that we've saved Aerith, ain't no need to be in this buildin'! So let's get the hell outta here!"

"Right," I agreed. "If all five of us go together, though, we're sure to be noticed. Let's break up into two groups. Aerith, Red, come with me. Tifa, Barret, you two go on ahead."

"Meet us at the 66th floor elevator!" Tifa said.

After she and Barret hurried back into the lab's elevator and rode it downstairs, I noticed Hojo had escaped during all the commotion. But his assistant was still cowering in the corner. I went over to him, Aerith and Red on either side, and he started trembling. "No! Please don't kill me! I only did what Hojo told me to do. To prove it to you… here, this is the keycard to the 68th floor. Would I do this if I was the enemy?"

He handed me a slim plastic card, and the words "LABORATORY ACCESS: FLOORS 67-68" were imprinted on it. I took it, slid it inside my pocket, and glanced back at him. "Go on, get out of here."

The words were barely out of my mouth when he ran off. I glanced at the others. "Time for us to go, too."

"Follow me!" Red said, loping off toward the elevator.

We did, racing after him and riding the lift downstairs. We hurried back through the 67th floor, and I kept my eyes ahead of me as we went past Jenova's tank. I felt that strange pull again, but almost as if she had read my mind, Aerith took my hand in hers, and that pull fell away in an instant with an incoherent snarl of rage that echoed in my thoughts in a cold, feminine voice I did not know. I had no idea what was going on or who that was, only that Aerith's touch had brought me back, and that my mind was my own again.

We hurried out of the storage facility and back down the hall to the escalator room. After riding the escalator downstairs, we followed Red through the next hallway on the 66th floor until we reached the central elevator in front of the conference room. I touched the button to call it, and a moment later, the doors slid open with a chime.

We had just slipped inside and I was just about to hit the button to take us to the ground floor when I heard footsteps behind us. I turned around, but it wasn't Tifa and Barret that had suddenly joined us inside the lift. Red growled and Aerith stepped a little closer to me at the sight of the two men in crisp, dark blue suits and black ties.

_Turks! Must have been a trap all along!_

One of them, a bald man with a short goatee covering his chin and dark sunglasses over his eyes, pointed to the control panel. "Would you press 'Up' please?"

"This must have been a real thrill for you," the other Turk said, his hands folded neatly behind his back. It was the raven-haired man from the Sector 7 plate. The one who had kidnapped Aerith.

"Damn…" I muttered.

* * *

Ah, there we are. I believe I have the recorder working now. It's not easy working such a thing with paws, you know. There are times that I wish I had hands like you humans do. But paws have their own uses as well, and I do enjoy the challenge this sort of thing presents. But that is enough about me. You want to hear more of our story, yes? That's why you're here, of course. So let's continue.

Where were we? Ah, yes, that's right. We had just been captured by the Turks during our escape attempt from Shinra headquarters. I felt it was my fault, as I had taken the lead and should have been much more aware of my surroundings. But I was so glad to finally be free of Hojo's laboratory that I never stopped to wonder about the ease of our escape or what it meant. In any case, we were caught, and instead of riding the elevator downstairs, we had to ride it back up again.

At one point, Aerith was taken from us after we got off the elevator on the 69th floor. The raven-haired Turk turned her over to two Shinra soldiers, who took her back inside the elevator and rode it downstairs. Though I hadn't known Aerith long, I worried for her nonetheless. She was kind for a human, and she had been a fellow prisoner of Hojo's, so I felt a certain kinship with her in that regard.

The bald Turk led the rest of us—those same soldiers had brought Tifa and Barret with them when they had come for Aerith—up a flight of wide stairs covered in soft purple carpet. Two such stairways led up to the 70th and final floor, one on either side of the large room. The top floor was, as we soon discovered, President Shinra's office, with several large floor-to-ceiling windows stretching along the walls on three sides and giving us a clear view of the city far beneath us. A small door off to the left led outside, and before us stood President Shinra's huge desk, a polished metal monstrosity that was nearly as wide as the room itself. The man himself stood up out of his leather chair as we approached. A cigar stuck out of the corner of his mouth as he eyed us coldly.

"Where's Aerith?" Cloud demanded.

The president walked around his desk to stand in front of us. "In a safe place. She is the last surviving Ancient. They called themselves the Cetra and lived thousands of years ago. But now they're just a forgotten page in history."

"The Cetra…" I murmured. "That girl is a survivor of the Cetra?"

I had thought them already long gone, myself. Or at least, that was what I had learned in my studies before I had left home years ago. But I had been mistaken, it seemed, and I was beginning to understand why Shinra had taken such interest in Aerith.

I listened as the president continued. "The Cetra, or Ancients, will show us the way to the Promised Land. I'm expecting a lot out of her. I know she can do it, though."

"The Promised Land? Isn't that just a legend?" I asked.

President Shinra shrugged, puffing on his cigar. "Perhaps. But even so, it's far too appealing not to pursue. It's been said the Promised Land is very fertile. And if that's true…"

"Then there's gotta be mako!" Barret finished.

"Exactly. And that is why our money-making mako reactor will be unnecessary. The abundant mako will simply flow out all by itself. That is where Neo-Midgar will be built. Shinra's new glory…."

Barret snorted. "Bullshit! Quit dreamin'!"

"Oh, don't you know?" President Shinra replied. "These days, all it takes for your dreams to come true is money and power. Well, I believe that is all for our meeting."

We started to head out of the office under the watchful eyes of the Turks, but Barret wasn't finished yet. He glared at the president. "Hold it! I got a lot to say to you!"

But then, the bald Turk shoved him away, and we were all led back downstairs. I managed to hear President Shinra's amused response just before we reached the elevator, however. I was certain the others hadn't though. My hearing is much more acute than that of humans. I am not boasting, do not misunderstand me. Rather, I am merely stating one of the abilities of my race. Just as humans have some things they do better than me, I also have many qualities humans do not. My sharper senses, for instance. But I've digressed, and for that, I do apologize. What I was saying was that I heard what the president said in spite of the fact I was already downstairs.

"If there's anything else… talk to my secretary," he said.

I suspect he had intended that as some sort of twisted joke, since I was certain he knew that we would be imprisoned and unable to do as he had suggested. In any case, I followed the others into the elevator as the Turks took us further down. I had an idea of where we were going, and it was the only place that made sense. The soldiers who had taken Aerith had also had taken our weapons, and I suspected we were being led down to the same location they had gone to.

The prison cells on the 67th floor.


	20. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - NINETEEN

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**NINETEEN**

As Red had guessed, we were taken to the security area on the 67th floor. Tifa and I had been locked inside one of the cells, and Barret and Red had been put into the one on our right. I didn't know where Aerith was, though. I should have seen this coming, but in all the commotion, I hadn't noticed the Turks' very conspicuous absence during our entire infiltration. Now I understood why they hadn't shown themselves until our capture. They must have seen us escape from the pillar and had set this up, knowing we would come for Aerith sooner or later. And just as with the trap in Reactor 5, we had unwittingly played right into it. But even so, I knew we could still get out of here somehow.

Jess wouldn't have led us into this. There had to be something else going on here, something that even Shinra didn't know about. Another reason we had been brought here. Jessie had protected me from Hojo's monster, had led me to the star pendant that had shielded me from the thing's poison. She had gotten us inside the Shinra Building in the first place, had led me to the stairs so we could sneak in. So I knew that this was where we were supposed to be, where we were meant to be. Why, I didn't know yet. But I trusted her. There was a way out, I was sure of it. All we had to do was find it.

Tifa lay on a cot next to the wall on our right, and as I walked over to her, she whispered to me. "Can we get out?"

"Leave it to me," I assured her.

"Cloud, you're so brave!" she gushed.

I raised an eyebrow, both heartened and amused at the unexpected compliment. Tifa wasn't the type to fawn over anyone like that, but this was a difficult situation we were in. Maybe she had just needed a bit of reassurance. I didn't mind, and it _was_ important to keep our spirits up. So I put my hands on my hips, assumed something that I figured was a pretty cool pose, and nodded, hoping Tifa would like it. "We'll bust on outta here in no time. So don't worry, okay?"

Tifa laughed. "I won't, Cloud. Not when you're with me."

Just then, we heard a tapping sound from the other side of the wall on the left. I went toward the front of the room, and Tifa got up to join me. I stood by the door and noticed an air vent near the ceiling. After a moment, I tapped the wall below it. Only a few seconds later, we heard a familiar, whispered voice.

"Cloud, are you there?" Aerith asked.

Relief washed through me. "Aerith!? Are you safe?"

"Yeah, I'm alright," she answered. "I knew you'd come for me."

I smiled even though I knew that she couldn't see it. "Hey, I'm your bodyguard, right?"

"Of course! That was the deal, remember?"

Tifa grimaced. "Oh, I get it…"

"Tifa! You're there, too!"

"_Excuse_ me," she said, folding her arms across her chest. I blinked, wondering what had gotten into her.

"You alright, Tif?" I asked.

She sighed. "Yeah. I'm sorry. It just… surprised me, is all."

"I helped Aerith because the Turks came for her right after we met, so she asked me to take her home. And when I left to go back to Sector 7, Aerith went along with me to show me the way there. And you know the rest. That's all it is."

"I didn't mean to upset you, Tifa," Aerith added.

"It's alright," she said, starting to relax. "You know, Aerith, I have a question. Does the Promised Land really exist?"

I wondered that as well. There were so many different stories about it, but I didn't know what was really true and what wasn't. I wasn't sure if I believed in it or not, but it was obvious Shinra did. And we needed to find out all that we could about it if we were going to stop them. So I listened as Aerith answered Tifa's question.

Her voice was soft when she spoke. "I don't know. All I do know is the Cetra were born from the planet, speak with the planet, and unlock the planet. And then, the Cetra will return to the Promised Land. It's a land that promises supreme happiness."

"What does that mean?" Tifa wondered.

"More than words…" Aerith murmured. "I don't know."

I wasn't sure I understood, either. "Speak with the planet?"

"Just what does the planet say?" Tifa added.

Aerith paused for a moment before answering. "I'm not sure. It's so noisy and full of people that it's hard to tell."

"You hear it now?" I asked.

"I… I only heard it at the church in the slums. My mother said that Midgar wasn't safe anymore. I mean, my real mother. Someday, I'll get out of Midgar. I'll speak with the planet… and find my Promised Land. That's what Mom told me. I thought I would stop hearing her voice as I grew up, but…"

Aerith grew quiet then, and I could tell she was lost in thought. So I decided to let her be for now. Tifa laid down on the cot again, and on impulse, I checked the other wall. As I'd thought, there was an air vent near the ceiling on that side as well. I listened closely and heard Barret talking to Red in the cell next to us.

"Aerith is an Ancient, or Cetra, or whatever the hell they are. They know where the Promised Land is, an' Shinra's searchin' for it. I've only heard stories 'bout the Promised Land. I ain't sure if it really exists. The Shinra believe it's full of mako energy. An' if they get there, they'll suck it all up. An' the land'll jus' wither away. The planet's gonna get weaker. I can't jus' leave 'em be. I'm recruitin' new members! Me, Tifa, Cloud… an' Aerith, too. How 'bout you?"

Barret paused a moment, waiting for Red to answer, but there was nothing. Finally, he snorted. "You're so damn boring."

I wasn't surprised. A new AVALANCHE? Well, I supposed he had a point, but I hadn't expected Red to be very interested. He hadn't been with us very long, after all. I was just about to walk away when Red did speak, but it was more to himself than to Barret, and I couldn't help the slight grin that crept across my face when he did.

"Grandpa…" he murmured.

"Grandpa!?" Barret chuckled to himself. "Grandpa, hmm…"

Red's voice was confused. "What's so funny?"

"Nothin'…"

Shaking my head in amusement, I went and sat down opposite the cot with my back against the wall. My body ached with weariness, and Tifa was already asleep. I stretched my legs out across the floor and slid my eyes closed, deciding that it couldn't hurt to try and get some sleep myself before trying to find a way to get us out of here.

Within moments, I was out.

* * *

"_Wake up, sleepyhead…"_

"_Hmm?" I stirred at the hauntingly familiar voice whispering to me. "Who are you?"_

_It spoke again. "Someone who loves you…"_

_Now my eyes did open, seemingly on their own, although I didn't feel like I was awake. And when I saw who was there, crouched down next to me, her hand upon my shoulder like it had been in the basement just the other morning, I stared in disbelief._

"_Jessica…?"_

_It was her. Whole and unharmed, the way I had seen her in the alley and again on the 63__rd__ floor when she had led me to the star pendant. But here, Jess wasn't transparent. She was solid, as real I was. I could feel her hand beneath mine when I placed my fingers over it, my heart pounding furiously inside my chest._

_She smiled. "You still like to sleep in, don't you?"_

"_Is this… a dream?"_

"_Maybe," Jessie shrugged. "Maybe not. Does it matter?"_

_Smiling back at her, I knew it didn't. Not one bit. "No, Jess. Whatever this is, I don't care, as long as you're here."_

_I realized then that I was alone in the cell apart from her, and I also knew that the cells on either side were empty as well. The whole building, in fact. It was just me and Jessica in this place, wherever and whatever it was. Knowing this, I reached up and pulled her to me, pressing my lips to hers. How long we kissed, I don't know. It didn't matter. Time didn't seem to have any meaning here. I knew it wouldn't last and that I would wake up sooner or later, really wake up, but… I didn't care. I savored this time, because it would never come again._

_Jess pulled away and gazed at me. "On your feet, SOLDIER…"_

_I let her pull me up until we were both standing, then her arms were around me as mine wrapped around her. For a while I just held her close and didn't say anything, brushing my fingers along the soft strands of her hair as it fell down her back. I noticed that neither of us was wearing our gloves even though I knew I'd had mine on when I had fallen asleep. But now they were gone, and I found I didn't mind._

_As Jessie and I kissed again, my fingers slid into hers, and a horde of feathers tumbled within my stomach like a whirlwind at the touch of her skin against mine. It was every bit as wonderful as I had hoped it would be, and I didn't want it to end. I just wanted to be here with her, together in this place that was a dream and yet also something else._

_A moment later, I realized I couldn't feel her anymore, and I opened my eyes to see that she had moved. Before, Jess had been in my arms, her hands wrapping themselves around my neck and shoulders while her lips had eagerly explored mine. But now she stood just outside the door of the cell, which was open now, and she beckoned to me._

"_Come on, Cloud. Follow me."_

_I did, not knowing where Jessie was taking me but not caring, either. I was just passing through the doorway when everything washed away in a blur of light. After a moment, it receded, and when I could see again, I realized I wasn't in the same place I had been, and Jess was gone. I didn't feel alone, though. I knew she was waiting for me up ahead somewhere. I don't know how I knew, I just felt like she was nearby. I know it's strange, this whole thing probably sounds that way to you. But it was real, and it happened, but I've never told anyone until now._

_Anyway, I found myself in the Shinra Building's main elevator, and it was going down. I looked at the panel and saw that the button for the 3rd floor was lit. What was in there that Jessica wanted to show me? I wasn't sure, but I knew I would find out soon enough, that she would show me. And that whatever it was, it would be important._

_A moment later, the elevator chimed and the doors slid open. It was one of the only sounds I had heard in this place. But the quiet was oddly comforting in a way. I stepped onto the 3__rd__ floor and looked around, and I found Jessie almost at once. When I did, my breath caught in my throat and my heart nearly stopped as memories of our time alone in the Sector 4 plate nearly overwhelmed me._

_Her auburn hair spilling down her shoulders, Jessica leaned casually against the side of a Hardy Daytona motorcycle on display to the right of the elevators, her arms stretched out to either side of her and resting atop the bike. It was the exact same model as the one we had ridden the other day during our mission together._

"_How 'bout a ride, mister?" Jessica smiled._

_A grin spread across my face. "Yeah…"_

_I went over to her and kissed her again, and then we got on the bike, Jess sliding her arms around my waist as she sat comfortably behind me. I wasn't at all surprised to find the keys already in the ignition. But when I reached for them, light washed everything out again as it had before. It wasn't very long before it receded, though, and I found myself elsewhere. I heard the Hardy's engine before I saw anything. We were still sitting on the bike, riding somewhere, the wind whipping past us, and when I could see again, I realized we were on one of Midgar's main highways, speeding far away from the Shinra Building._

_It was utterly empty. No other cars or trucks or bikes shared the road with us. It was as though we were the only two people in the entire city. I found that I liked that. It was our place, our time, and while I wasn't sure where we were going, I found I didn't care. As Jessica leaned closer to me, her hair flying freely behind her and her eyes peering over my shoulder, I hit the gas and we sped faster, racing down the empty road in the dead of night, a thousand stars glittering above us in a sky clear of the seemingly endless gloom that shrouded it in the waking world._

_The only sounds were our own breathing, the breeze blowing past us, and the purring of the Hardy's engine. The highway lay open before us, a wide strip of gray concrete with its white dashed lines, and it curved first one way and then another as it wound through the city. I drove for what seemed like an eternity, but I never grew tired, and a part of me wished I could have stayed here with Jessica in this place forever._

_Eventually, we came to a dead end at the edge of town. The road just stopped. It was unfinished here, and some construction equipment sat off to the left side past the guardrail. A flashing red light shone at the__end of the highway as I brought the Hardy to a stop, and beyond the edge of the road, the barren hills of the badlands rolled away into the distance in the predawn gloom. There was no path to the ground yet, and the edge of the road just hung out over the side of the plate, like an exit ramp that hadn't been finished. Then I remembered that some parts of the highway in the waking world were, in fact, still being built._

_I got off the bike, then turned around and sat backwards on it, facing Jessie. She and I shared a long, lingering kiss, not needing any words for a while. But then eventually I pulled away with a wry grin. "Looks like we took that ride after all."_

"_Yeah, we did, didn't we?" she laughed._

_I looked at our surroundings. "What is this place?"_

_Jessie's expression grew serious as she answered. "It's where your real journey begins, Cloud."_

"_What do you mean? My journey?"_

"_Things are happening now that even Shinra can't see," she went on. "It's started moving. It'll awaken soon."_

_I blinked. "What has? What are you talking about, Jess?"_

"_I don't know what it is. It's just… a feeling I have. I can sense things now that I couldn't before. Maybe because I'm, well… you know."_

"_Dead…" I sighed._

_Jess ran a hand gently along the side of my face, her brown eyes both sad and tender as they looked at me. "I have to go away now, Cloud. I've done all that I can for you."_

_I reached up and placed my fingers over hers. "Jessica…"_

"_You've got a long, hard road ahead of you. I wish I could be there to help, but I can't. Stay close to your friends, though. The ones you already have as well as the others you'll meet later. You'll need them, Cloud. But you'll also need to find yourself, too."_

"_I don't understand," I said. "Find myself?"_

_Jessie nodded. "It's just… I feel like there's more to you than even you know. But you have to find out, Cloud, sooner or later. You won't be able to save the planet if you don't."_

"_Jess, what's going on? Save the planet from what? Shinra?"_

"_I told you, it's much more than that now," she explained. "But that's all I know. I wish I could tell you more."_

_I wanted to understand better what Jessie __meant, but I knew she had said everything she could. Whatever danger was coming, whatever it was that she was warning me about, I promised myself I would be ready for it and fight it as best I could._

_I gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "It's alright, Jess. Thanks."_

_We kissed again, our lips finding each other more fervently this time since we both knew our time together was almost over. I didn't want it to be, but I could feel myself getting heavier and my surroundings becoming less substantial, less real, and I knew it was true. But I didn't want to say goodbye. I didn't want this to end. I didn't want to wake up and find her gone. And as I realized that when this was all over I wouldn't see or hear from her again, my heart ached and I pulled away, bowing my head and holding her close. I felt like I was losing her all over again, and I hated it. I just wanted to keep her here, in this moment._

"_Cloud," Jessica whispered. "I'll always be with you."_

_I sighed. "I know, but… it just won't be the same. There are so many places I wanted to take you."_

_She smiled. "You will, Cloud. In here."_

_Jessie put her hand over my heart, and I realized I could see through her fingers again. I put my own fingers over hers and flashed her a small, bittersweet grin in return. "I guess I can do that."_

"_Cloud," she murmured. "Someday, I'd like you to take this ride with someone special. You'll know who when the time comes. It doesn't matter where you are or where you go, as long as you're together. And when you do, think of me, and I'll be happy. For both of you."_

"_I will, Jess," I said. "I promise."_

_She nodded, and her voice became more urgent as she began to fade away. "You have to wake up now, Cloud. It's begun. Hurry!"_

_Everything began breaking up around me, swallowed in darkness as the dream began to dissipate. I looked around, my heart pounding, but I couldn't see Jessie anymore. "Jessica! Where are you?"_

"_I'm here with you, Cloud. Always. Now, wake up! And don't worry, we'll meet again one day. In a place with no pain or sorrow. That's where I'll be waiting. That's where you'll find me."_

_As I felt myself—my real self—begin to stir, Jessie said one last thing, and it lingered in my ears as I hovered there in the dark. And then… she was gone. There was nothing, only the darkness as I found myself quickly rising back to consciousness. But as I did, her last words remained, and I clung tightly to them as I woke up and the dream, our dream, faded into memory. One I've kept very close to me ever since. Along with what Jessie whispered to me at the end._

"_I love you…"_

* * *

The first thing I noticed was that the cell door was open.

Blinking the sleep from my eyes, I got to my feet, memories of the dream still swirling in my mind along with Jessie's last words. I swear I heard her voice in my ears when I first woke up, as if she had been here next to me just as she had been in the dream. But it was gone now, and so was she. And this time, she wasn't coming back. As much as I hated to even think it, I couldn't deny it anymore. Jessica was truly gone now. She had returned to the planet, as Aerith would have said.

Reluctantly putting my thoughts of her aside, I focused instead on the current situation. Tifa was still asleep on the cot, and from the soft breathing I heard through the air vent on the left side and Barret's loud snoring coming from the one on the right, I could tell the others hadn't woken up yet. Why was the door open? Who had opened it?

Remembering Jessie's warning, I crept slowly into the narrow hall, my eyes and ears alert. It was quiet, but not like in the dream. This was eerie, unnatural, and I didn't like it one bit. As I drew closer to the end of the corridor where it bent to the left and ran past the security office to the main hall, I spotted a crumpled body lying on the floor amidst a steadily widening pool of blood.

I hurried back to Tifa and shook her shoulder. "Tifa… wake up!"

"Hmm…?" she murmured sleepily. Then, when she finally opened her eyes and saw how tense I was, she immediately sat up, noticing the open door when she did so. "What's wrong?"

"Something's going on. Take a look outside."

Tifa hurried into the hall, and I followed her at once. As we looked at the body, I saw it was one of the guards. He hadn't been shot, I could tell that much, but other than that, I had no idea what had killed him. I wondered, too, why we hadn't heard it. As close as he was, the sound of his death should have woken us all up.

Tifa shivered. "I wonder what happened…"

I shook my head. "I'm not sure. I guess he was taken by surprise."

"By what? This is kinda eerie…"

"I don't know," I sighed. But a vague suspicion began to grow in my mind nonetheless. "Anyway, he should have the key on him."

I was right. Hanging from his belt by a metal clip was a handful of plastic keycards, and it didn't take me long to find the one for the cells. I took it, went back, and unlocked Aerith's cell. "Tifa, go get Aerith. I'll help Barret and Red. Hurry!"

She went to wake Aerith while I unlocked the other cell, and when Barret stirred and saw me there, he frowned in confusion. "How'd you get in? Why's the door open?"

"Something's wrong," I told him. "Come with me."

He stood up at once and bolted out the door, Red just behind him. The panther had woken up instantly as soon as he'd heard us talking. I followed them, and after the girls joined us, we returned to the guard's body. Red paused to sniff at it, his good eye scanning for clues, while I bent down in a crouch to look at it again myself.

"Anything?" I asked.

"No human could have done this," he replied. "I'm sure of it."

Looking at the guard, I had come to the same conclusion myself. It had been brutally slashed, but not by weapons. I knew how the wounds from a blade looked, and the deep cuts on the body hadn't been caused by any sword. The edges were much too ragged. It looked more like the result of a monster attack than anything else. I didn't know what kind, though. It wasn't like anything I'd ever seen before. But whatever it was, it had proven itself extremely dangerous.

Barret glanced around nervously. "The hell's goin' on?"

"I'll go on ahead," Red said.

He padded down the hall, sniffing the air, but didn't go too far. The girls glanced uneasily at each other while Barret checked behind us. He turned to me. "I'll keep watch back here for now, so you guys go ahead. An' don't get caught by Shinra!"

"Right," I agreed. "Let's check out the security office first, though. That's probably where they took our gear."

As it turned out, I was right. The guards had stowed our all of our equipment in one corner of the office. But they were dead now, too. On the floor or sagging back in their chairs with expressions of pure terror frozen upon their faces, they had all been killed in the same way as the first guard we had found, and blood was everywhere.

"Damn…" Barret muttered.

I nodded as I grabbed my swords. "Yeah. You're not kidding…"

"What the hell coulda done this?" he said, taking his ammo from a shelf and filling his gun-arm with rounds.

"I don't know," I replied, sliding Buster into its harness.

But that dark suspicion lingering in the back of my mind began to grow. I didn't know for sure if I was right, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like it was the only explanation that made sense. I didn't say anything to the others, though. There was a way to confirm what I suspected, and I didn't want to draw any conclusions until I had checked it for myself. So I kept silent while we gathered up all our gear and materia and sorted everything out.

Once we were ready, we left the security office and followed Red. I was in the middle with the girls while Barret watched the rear. Walking slowly into the main hall, we made a right and headed back inside the storage bay, our path marked by a long smear of blood on the floor that stretched back down the corridor to the body of the guard by our cells. A moment later, we stopped as we came to where we had first seen Red before we had rescued Aerith.

A much larger pool of blood lay here, and in it was sprawled Hojo's assistant, as dead as everyone else we had found so far. The transparent lift that had taken Red upstairs earlier was empty now, and Red himself stood nearby, but his eye wasn't on his former prison. As I followed his gaze, I stiffened immediately, my earlier suspicions confirmed, as Tifa let out a startled gasp and her hands flew to her mouth.

Jenova's holding tank had been torn open.

Whether it was from without or within, I couldn't tell. But the door was gone, and so was Jenova. Had that thing broken free by herself? Or had someone else helped her? I didn't know, but the thought of Jenova awake and free again after all these years sent shivers of dread running down my spine. Only one person could have possibly freed her, but he was dead, at least as far as anyone knew. Even so, that old familiar rage burned within me like a firestorm.

"_It's started moving. It'll awaken soon."_

Jessie's words echoed within my mind again. Now I was starting to understand. Jenova had stirred, but why now? And then I remembered the vision I'd had in Reactor 5, the sight of a younger Tifa weeping over her dead father's body in the depths of the Nibel reactor. Did what was happening now have something to do with that terrible day? I couldn't dismiss the possibility, and my unease grew.

"Jenova…" Red observed. "Looks like it went upstairs."

It seemed he was right. Beyond the ruined holding tank, the blood trail went on, curving out of sight toward the elevator. Without a word, we followed it, my grip on Hardedge's hilt tightening as we did. When we reached the lift, we rode it upstairs into the main lab, the sounds of our breathing oddly loud in the stillness.

We had barely stepped inside the room when a pack of about half a dozen vicious, four-legged creatures sprang at us, their sharp teeth and claws bared and a row of hard spikes bristling along their spines. Long, barbed tails lashed out at us, and we scattered, dodging the attacks and repositioning ourselves for the fight.

"Zenenes!" Red called out, charging at one of them, his own claws unsheathed. "Watch out for their poison!"

I sliced at another one. "More of Hojo's experiments?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I fear Jenova must have set them loose when it escaped and made its way up here."

I nodded, having guessed as much myself. While Red, Tifa, and I closed in on the monsters and laid into them with claws, fists, feet, and sword, Barret and Aerith fell back and covered us, hitting the Zenenes with blasts of ice and streams of bullets. Several of the beasts fell under our combined assault, but a few still remained.

One of them dodged aside as I cut at it, then whipped its tail at me, spewing a cloud of noxious green vapor in my direction. But like in the fight with H0512, it didn't affect me. The star pendant warmed against my skin as the venomous mist swept harmlessly around me, and while I charged through it and sliced apart the creature with a swift forehand slash, I thought of Jessica and silently thanked her again.

I spun around as another of the monsters leapt past us and swiped at Aerith, but she saw it coming and was ready. Aerith smashed it with a backhand swing of her staff just as it reached her, swatting it aside as easily as she had thrashed those bandits in the slums. Then she froze it with a burst of cold as Barret finished it off, filling it with lead and then roasting it with an eruption of fire magic.

"Don't worry about me, Cloud," Aerith said. "I've got things under control back here."

"I can see that," I smirked.

While she winked at me and went back to work with her ice spells, I turned my attention to the last few enemies. Tifa laid into one with a string of savage punches and kicks that sent it flying across the room, a stream of Aerith's blizzard magic smacking it down as it tried to get up. Red and I converged on another one, claws and sword a blur as we cut it down. His talons tore out its throat while Hardedge sliced a deep line across its belly. Barret took out the third Zenene with a fiery blast from his assault gun just like the one he had used to destroy that monstrous metal scorpion way back in Reactor 1.

When it was all over, we hurried to the far end of the lab where the blood trail entered another hallway. With Red in the lead again and the others behind me, we hurried down the passageway and found another escalator room. Blood went up one of the moving staircases, which had stalled at some point and were no longer actually moving. We hurried upstairs to the 69th floor, where the blood continued out the doorway of the room we were in and went into a small hallway that encircled it. The trail turned to the right, and we followed it past another doorway to a third one that stood opposite the escalator room's back wall. It was unlocked, and we moved through it into a wider area with two curving desks, one on either side of the doorway.

At the other end of the room, a pair of wide staircases covered with purple carpet turned back towards us and rose up to the 70th floor and President Shinra's office. The blood trail led to the one on the right. We crossed the room, passing a few more tormented bodies of guards and Shinra employees, and slowly climbed the steps, our weapons ready as we continued our ascent. Although I had a fairly good idea of what we were going to see when we got there, I still wasn't prepared for it when we finally returned to the spacious office we had been brought to only a few hours earlier. I stared with the others in shock at the sight before us, hardly able to believe it.

President Shinra was dead.


	21. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - TWENTY

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**TWENTY**

"He's dead…" Barret breathed. "The head of Shinra is dead…"

Like the rest of us, he just stood there, staring in shocked disbelief at the unbelievable sight before us. The president was slumped forward in his chair behind his wide desk, and from his back protruded a long, slender katana of polished, flawless steel. To whom did it belong? Not Jenova, I was certain. And yet the trail of blood ended at the president's desk. I didn't understand, but it seemed that Cloud did, at least in part. I saw his eyes narrow as soon as he gazed upon that sword.

"I knew it…" he said, almost to himself.

Tifa hurried behind the president's desk to get a better look. "Then this sword must be…"

"Sephiroth's!" Cloud finished.

Although I had spent several years here in Hojo's laboratory as his captive, even I had heard of Sephiroth, though I knew little of him. He had left on a mission to some far off town with several others five years ago and had never returned. Neither had any of the personnel who had accompanied him, and they had been listed as dead ever since. And yet now, it seemed, he was back. But whether that was a good thing or bad, I could not say. My instincts favored the latter, however.

"Sephiroth is alive?" Tifa asked.

Cloud nodded. "Looks like it. Only he can use that sword."

"Who cares who did it!?" Barret argued, excitement growing in his eyes. "This is the end of the Shinra!"

I shook my head. "I am not so sure…"

"The hell you talkin' 'bout, Red? They're finished!"

"The president may be dead, but the other executives are still alive, Barret, and… wait, do you hear something?"

Aerith glanced at me. "What is it, Red? I hear it, too…"

A faint rustling had just reached my ears, and while Barret blinked in confusion, Cloud whirled around, having heard it as well. There was a muffled gulp from somewhere off to the right, and a moment later, a rotund man in a light brown business suit peeked out from behind the pillar on that side of the president's desk.

"Palmer!" Barret growled.

The man named Palmer tried to run, but Cloud and Barret caught him before he had taken his seventh step, each of them seizing an arm. He glanced from one of the men to the other, his face pale, frightened, and dotted with cold sweat.

"P-P-P-Please, don't kill me!" he pleaded, his eyes wide.

"What happened?" Cloud demanded.

Palmer stared at him. "It… it was Sephiroth! Sephiroth came!"

"Did you see him? Did you see Sephiroth?"

"Yeah, I saw him!" Palmer nodded vigorously. "With my own eyes! He was here! I swear it!"

Cloud tugged on his arm. "You really saw him?"

Palmer nodded again. "Uh! Would I lie at a time like this!? I heard his voice, too! He said he wouldn't let us have the Promised Land."

"Then does that mean," Tifa said, looking as doubtful as I felt, "that the Promised Land really does exist and that Sephiroth's here to save it from Shinra?"

"So he's a good guy, then?" Barret added, equally skeptical.

Cloud's face was a thunderhead. "Save the Promised Land? A good guy? Not a chance in hell! It's not that simple! I know him! Sephiroth's mission is different!"

Just then, the sound of a helicopter flying just outside shattered the stillness, and when we all turned to look as it flew past the windows on the left side of the room, Palmer shook himself free and ran for the exit door leading to the president's private patio.

"Rufus!" Barret spat in disgust. "Shit! I forgot about him!"

Tifa stared blankly at him. "Who's that?"

"Vice President Rufus Shinra. The president's son. I heard that he'd been assigned somewhere else for a long time…"

"I wonder what sort of person he is…" Tifa said.

I did not know. I'd heard him mentioned only once or twice during my time here, and I wondered briefly why he had been sent away. Then I decided it didn't matter, at least for now. He had returned, and almost immediately after his father's murder, no less. I sighed, uncertain what to think about it. "I only know his name."

"I've heard that no one's ever seen him bleed or cry," Aerith added. "But I don't know if it's true."

"How'd he know to come here, though?" Barret asked.

Cloud frowned. "I think Palmer must've called him sometime after Sephiroth attacked, before we got here. I'm gonna go out there and find out what's going on."

"We're going with you," Aerith replied.

"I thought you'd say that. Just stay on your toes, all of you. We don't know what to expect from him."

Barret grunted. "He's a Shinra. That's all we need to know."

"Maybe," Cloud shrugged. "But let's see what he has to say first."

* * *

"So, Sephiroth was actually here," Rufus was busy talkin' to Palmer when we stepped out onto the balcony, but when he caught sight of us, he turned an' raised an eyebrow. "By the way, just who are you?"

"The name's Cloud, ex-SOLDIER First Class!" Cloud answered.

I hefted my gun-arm. "I'm from AVALANCHE!"

"Same here!" Tifa added.

"A flower girl from the slums," Aerith said.

Red narrowed his eye. "A research specimen."

Rufus shrugged as Palmer climbed a rope ladder to the helicopter. "What a crew. Well, I'm Rufus, the new president of Shinra, Inc."

He stood there, cool as ice, wearin' a crisp white business suit an' a pair of shiny black leather shoes. He ran a hand through his strawberry blond hair, then dropped his fingers down to pet a huge, mean-lookin' black hound standin' at his side. In his other hand, Rufus was holdin' a sawn-off shotgun, though he hadn't brought it to bear on us. It hung at his side for now, but his finger was restin' easily enough on the trigger. I didn't like the sight of it one damn bit.

"You're only president 'cause your old man died!" I snorted.

"True enough," he nodded, walkin' toward us. "That being said, I'll let you hear my inauguration speech."

I snickered. "This oughta be good."

"Oh, it is," Rufus answered. He went on, approachin' each of us one at a time as he spoke before finally walkin' away again back toward the railin'. "Father tried to control the world with money, and that worked for him. The people believed that Shinra would protect them. Work at Shinra and get your pay. If any terrorists attack, Shinra's army will help you. I looked perfect on the outside. But I'll do things quite differently. I'll control the world with fear. It's too much work to do it like my old man. A little fear will control the minds of the common people. There's no reason to waste good money on them."

"He likes to make speeches just like his father," Tifa said.

Cloud looked at me, his eyes narrow an' his face more intense than I'd ever seen it. "Get Aerith outta the building! Now!"

"What?" I asked.

"I'll explain later, Barret! This is the real battle for the planet!"

I frowned. "The hell's that supposed to mean?"

"I said I'll explain later!" he repeated. "Just trust me and get her the hell outta here! I'll catch up after I take care of Rufus!"

"Awright, Cloud!" I nodded.

If anyone could give that cold boy Rufus a good smackdown, it was Cloud. I didn't have no doubt 'bout that. So the rest of us hurried back inside, Red takin' the lead again an' myself in the back with the girls in between us as we headed down one of them wide staircases to the next floor an' made our way back to the main elevators.

We was just comin' up to those two curved desks an' that doorway between 'em that led to the other half of this floor when Aerith slowed to a stop and looked back the way we'd come.

"Cloud…" she murmured. "I just thought of something."

Tifa motioned for Aerith an' the rest of us to go ahead. "I'll wait for Cloud! Everyone, get to the elevator! Hurry!"

Without waitin' for an answer, Tifa ran back the way we'd come an' sprinted upstairs. We was jus' about to move on ourselves when alarms suddenly started blarin' all over the place. Then there was a mechanical whirrin' noise behind us, an' I whirled around to see some big an' nasty machine risin' up from outta the floor in the middle of the room where it musta dropped down an' then come back up, bringin' that huge thing with it. Looked like we wasn't gettin' outta here so easily.

The damn thing had guns on top'a guns, a pair of twin gatling guns on either side of its body, an' three long cannons pokin' out on top of it. It sat on four big turreted wheels an' scanned the room 'til it found us. I had my gun-arm up an' ready, but then I dove behind the nearest desk when that bigass machine opened fire and started shootin'. I glanced at Aerith an' Red an' motioned to 'em with my good arm as I got ready to shoot back at that rollin' piece of junk.

"Take cover!" I yelled.

They ducked behind the other desk jus' as bullets ripped across the room an' tore up the walls behind us. Back when we first picked up our gear in the security office, we did some swappin' 'round of our materia, an' now I had Cloud's Lightnin' materia in my gun-arm along with that Elemental one we got from Mayor Domino downstairs. My assault gun crackled an' hummed like it was electrified, an' while I was firin' at that Shinra sentry machine, blue sparks sizzled all 'round the bullets as they flew through the air an' punched into the mech.

Aerith had one of our Fire materia now, an' while I kept pourin' on the bullets, she blasted that Shinra gunner with one burst of flame after another while Red did the same with the other one. An' in the midst of all that, we kept duckin' our heads down whenever the gunner shot too close to us. Then suddenly there was a flash of yellow light from one of Red's front paws where he wore some kinda wrist guard like ours, an' a moment later, he called out to me. "Barret! Keep on hitting it with that lightning! It's extremely vulnerable to electricity!"

"Got it!" I nodded, an' got back to work.

* * *

"Why do you want to fight me?" Rufus shrugged.

I pointed at him with Hardedge's blade. "You're after the Promised Land and Sephiroth."

"That's right. Did you know that Sephiroth is an Ancient?"

I did, all too well. Not that it made a difference. "Whatever. I'm not letting either you or Sephiroth have the Promised Land!"

Rufus raised his shotgun. "I see. Then I guess we won't be friends."

"Don't count on it," I spat, narrowing my eyes and bringing up my sword. "I'm gonna stop you here and now!"

I rushed in just as Rufus' black hound leaped at me, its sharp teeth bared and its claws slicing toward me. I spun to the left and cut it with a sidelong slash along its ribs as it passed by, and it howled in pain but kept on going, turning around as soon as it landed and bracing itself to jump again. At the same time, there was a loud boom almost in my ear as Rufus fired his shotgun.

Reacting on instinct, I ducked and swept Hardedge up into a tight forward arc that knocked Rufus' weapon aside with a loud clang. As he stumbled backward, I kicked him in the chest and slammed Hardedge down at him in an overhead chop as his back collided with the railing. He dodged at the last second, though, spinning to the left as Hardedge struck the rail where he'd been just a moment ago with a small shower of sparks and the ringing of metal on metal.

I stumbled into the railing as something huge and heavy suddenly landed on my back, and I felt that hound's hot breath in my ear as it bit at me. Tilting my head to the side to avoid the thing's gnashing teeth, I reached back, grabbed it by the scruff of the neck with my other hand, and threw the hound across the balcony.

There was a blur of white out of the corner of my eye, and I turned to see Rufus closing on me, his shotgun in his right hand and a slender blade with the Shinra logo emblazoned on the hilt in his left hand. He'd had it hanging from his belt earlier and must have drawn it while I was busy getting his hound off me. I whipped Hardedge up in time to block his swing, then dodged as he brought up his shotgun and fired again. I backed away and drew Buster with my left hand, then charged at Rufus again, Hardedge high and Buster low.

I swept them out in front of me in a quick crosscut that would have torn Rufus open if he hadn't blocked both of my blades with his sword and gun. We went back and forth across the balcony, weapons clashing against each other as we spun, ducked, and dodged in a frenzied dance of battle and death, neither of us giving nor getting any openings. Then his hound was jumping at me again. I dove aside as it flew over me, but before it could leap again, a familiar figure in black and white suddenly darted in between the hound and me, her gloved fists raised.

"Tifa!" I shouted.

"I'll handle this furball!" she said. "You take care of Rufus!"

I nodded. "Right! Let's do it!"

While she laid into that Shinra attack dog with a flurry of punches and swift, spinning kicks, I brought my swords back up and charged at Rufus, resuming our duel as our weapons clashed together again. I had to beat him, to end this threat before it could grow even further. Shinra _had_ to be stopped, now more than ever.

Buster and Hardedge in hand, I fought furiously.

* * *

We were still pinned down by the sentry gunner as bullets sprayed all across the room. Aerith and I burned the machine with one blast of magical fire after another while, from behind the other desk, Barret hit it with a constant spray of lightning-enhanced gunfire. Panels blew off the sides and sparks flashed across the gunner's metal frame, but still it did not fall. My spiritual energy was diminishing from casting so many spells, and we had no ethers with which to replenish it.

Then an idea came to me. The hundred gunner sat in between the two sets of stairs at the far side of the room, in the wider section of the floor ahead of us as the two open stairwells rose up on either side of it. If I could get above the gunner, perhaps I could leap down upon it and strike at its internals without it being able to retaliate. It was dangerous, but I knew it was our only chance.

"Barret! Aerith!" I called. "Cover me!"

They did so, and while Barret rose up from behind the desk he had been crouching behind to draw the gunner's fire and Aerith continued to scorch it with bursts of flame, I crept toward the nearest staircase on silent paws, my eyes locked upon our enemy as I moved into position. Once I was where I needed to be, I bent low, gathered my legs beneath me, tensed my muscles, and sprang up onto the stairs. Backing up until I reached the far end of the step upon which I stood, I growled and ran across it, and when I reached the other side, I jumped off the staircase and onto the upper body of the gunner.

Unsheathing my claws, I went to work, swiping at every opening I could reach, shredding wires and tearing off panels and shards of metal with my teeth to get at the machine's inner circuitry. As its entire frame shuddered under the relentless fury of Aerith's fire spells and the sharp report of Barret's electrified bullets filled my ears, I finally managed to claw my way into the gunner's central processing unit, tearing away the access panel as the delicate circuitry inside blinked and hummed.

Using some of my remaining energy, I sent a single searing blast of fire into the compartment, blowing it apart and singeing my whiskers a little in the process. The gunner began to shake beneath me, and it was all I could do to keep from being thrown off. I dug my claws right into the metal frame and clung to it as I kept on slicing at the machine until explosions began to race across it.

I was about to jump off, but when I went to move one of my front paws, I abruptly snapped back with a jerk and realized that I was stuck. I must have dug those claws in too deep. I pulled and tugged, but to no avail. The gunner shuddered as it began to blow apart all around me, a firestorm I did not know if I could escape. But finally, I tore myself free and jumped just as the gunner suddenly exploded behind me, sending jagged shards of metal flying in all directions.

I went flying as well, thrown halfway across the room by the sheer force of the blast until I crashed into the wall behind one of the angled desks near the main doorway. I slumped to the floor with a groan, pain seeming to fill every part of my body.

"Red!" Aerith ran to me. "Are you alright?"

Slowly, I picked myself up. "I think so. Thank you."

"Just hold still for a minute," she told me.

I did so, and a moment later, I felt a cool, refreshing breeze swirl its way around me, easing the pain of my injuries and healing my wounds. By the time the soothing wind had faded away, I felt much better, and I nodded appreciatively to her. "Again, thank you, Aerith."

"Don't mention it," she smiled, lowering her staff. "It's what friends are supposed to do for each other, right?"

"Indeed," I agreed. "You're not so bad. For a two-legged thing."

She laughed. "Thanks, Red!"

Leaping over the desk, I took the lead again as we hurried through the main doorway, Aerith close behind me and Barret bringing up the rear as we raced down the hall on our way to the elevator. I hoped that Cloud and Tifa were alright, but there wasn't anything we could do for them at the present time. Cloud had asked us—no, had _ordered_ us—to get Aerith safely out of this place, and Barret and I both intended to do that very thing. No one deserved to be a captive here, and if she was as important as Cloud and Shinra both believed that she was, then it was imperative that we protect her.

We all went through another doorway and into a smaller room. An employee break room, judging by the rows of green chairs and vending machines. Another doorway stood at the far end of the room, and past it was an even smaller area, barely more than an alcove. On the wall to our left stood the elevators, and as soon as we reached them, Barret hit the call button with his good hand. A moment later, there was a chime as the doors slid open, and we went inside.

We were about a third of the way down when we heard it. A sound that I had hoped we wouldn't encounter. The chopping of a helicopter. But what we saw flying toward us was another sentry gunner. This one was smaller, however, and held aloft by a pair of whirling rotor blades. We had another difficult battle on our hands but with much less room to maneuver this time. As the heli gunner swiftly closed in, I prepared my magic and braced myself for the attack.

* * *

The hound snarled at me as it got back up, battered and beaten but still in the game. Blood matted its dark fur where Cloud had slashed it, but it wasn't finished yet. It was tough, something more a monster than an animal, and its yellow eyes glinted evilly. Or maybe I only thought I saw that. In any case, Rufus' pet crept toward me, muscles bunching to spring at me again as that tentacle on its back whipped through the air almost with a life of its own.

I had a few cuts and scratches from tangling with the black-furred hound, but nothing serious. Ignoring the stinging pain, I braced myself for the next attack while behind me, Cloud and Rufus were still caught up in their own battle, steel clanging on steel as their weapons met and struck each other again and again. The hound looked past me, wanting to make another strike at Cloud, no doubt, but there was no way in hell I was going to let that happen.

I charged in, pummeling the hound with a quick chain of punches and kicks and ducking beneath the lashing tentacle. The beast fell back but recovered more quickly than I had expected, its sharp teeth sinking into my forearm before I could get away.

Pain knifed through me, but I gritted my teeth against it and drove my knee into the hound's belly as I smashed my other fist into the side of its head. Almost immediately, the thing let go, but I barely had time to breathe before it was on me again, leaping right at me and slamming me into the railing. My back screamed in protest at the sudden impact, but I ignored it and seized the hound's front legs as it landed almost on top of me, biting and snarling.

I ducked my head first to one side and then the other, dodging the hound's snapping teeth as it lunged at me and tried again and again to tear my throat open. Then I tightened my grip on its forelegs, and with a loud yell, I slammed my foot into the hound's chest. It flew across the balcony, and before it could retaliate I ran over, grabbed it, jumped into the air, and slammed the beast back down to the ground. The concrete cracked as the thing struck with a startled yelp.

It wasn't finished yet, though, and got back up with amazing speed. But I was ready for it this time. I returned to the railing, my eyes never leaving the hound, and when it jumped at me again, I shattered its jaw with a vicious backhand punch that hurled it into the far wall. As it hit, the black-furred hound collapsed in a tangled heap amidst a cloud of dust and broken bits of concrete.

But incredibly, it was still alive and maddened with pain, and it ran at me once more, its tentacle snapping relentlessly at my face as soon as it got in range. But just as it did, I leaned slightly to the side, seized the monster by the neck and chest, and threw it over the railing. It fell with one last shrieking bark and was gone.

Catching my breath as I stood there, I blocked out the searing pain in my arm and dove into myself, concentrating on the Cure materia in my glove. Soon enough, I felt the magic flowing, and I opened my eyes to see sparkles of green energy floating around me. I let out a soft sigh as the pain began to recede, although it didn't go away entirely, and my injuries started to heal. It would have to be enough for now. Cloud still needed me, deadlocked as he was against Rufus.

Clenching my fists again, I raced back into the fray.

* * *

"Get down!" I yelled as the heli gunner started shootin'.

The glass walls of the elevator shattered all 'round us, jagged shards flyin' everywhere an' cuttin' into our skin. Aerith ducked an' threw her arms up over her head with a little shriek while Red crouched down an' flattened his ears with a low growl.

I shrugged off the glass an' whipped up my gun-arm. "My turn!"

I opened up, shootin' at the heli gunner with my electrified bullets. It moved damn quick, though, dodgin' an' dartin' this way an' that, and I had to adjust my aim almost constantly to keep up with it. I stayed on one knee to keep from gettin' shot back, an' the others kept low as well. But they both got off a few fire spells while they was at it, scorchin' the gunner an' makin' it slow down enough that I could hit it.

The heli gunner had a round red sensor eye in the middle of it, an' that's what I went after first, sprayin' it with lead 'til it finally blew apart in a shower of sparks. Although the machine kept firin', it had a harder time findin' us now, an' its shots went wild, sprayin' all over the place as we all stood back up an' kept up our assault.

While Aerith used that healin' wind of hers to clean up them nicks an' scratches from the glass and the few stray shots that clipped us, Red an' I kept hittin' the gunner. Parts of it was burnin' now, but it still kept flyin' an' shootin' at us. Then Red backed off, lookin' drained an' spent. "I'm sorry, Barret. That's all the magic I have."

"Don't worry 'bout it," I said. "Jus' leave this sucker to me!"

The heat gauge on my gun-arm was buildin' up an' near full, so it'd be time to use another big shot soon enough. An' one shot was all I was gonna need to finish this flyin' hunk of scrap metal. Duckin' as a spray of bullets swept over us, I kept on shootin' with my regular ammo 'til I saw the light below the heat gauge turn from green to yellow an' finally to red. Now I was ready to rock.

I grinned. "Time to feel the heat, you flyin' trash pile!"

Hittin' the switch by the gauge, I waited an' let the fireball from the gun-arm's heat build up at the end of the barrel 'til the gunner swooped in close. When I was sure of my aim, I yelled an' unleashed the fireball, shootin' it right into the middle of the flyin' mech's body. It exploded in a big, beautiful blast of orange flame that nearly deafened us as broken shards of scorched metal an' busted circuits flew everywhere.

Amazingly enough, the elevator was still workin' fine after all that, an' we was still goin' down, though the glass walls was all gone. We was almost there now, about twenty or so floors from the ground as the air from outside blew past us. It was quiet now, so I reloaded my gun-arm while I had the time. I doubted I'd have another chance for a while. We was gonna have to bust our way outta the buildin' when we reached the lobby. I could still hear the alarms goin' off all over the place, an' below us outside I saw a whole bunch of blue-suited guards swarmin' around the entrance, guns in hand as they got into position.

By the time we finally got downstairs, I was ready for 'em.

* * *

My swords a blur of motion, I cut at Rufus again and again, hitting nothing but metal each time as he blocked with his sword and gun. But neither could he land any of his own blows. I got Buster and Hardedge in place to deflect each one as we fought back and forth on the balcony, the battle taking us from one end to other while Tifa kept the hound at bay and off my back. As I parried another swing of Rufus' sword, I saw her throw the creature over the railing. _Good job, Tifa. Thanks._ I hadn't doubted her for a second.

Rufus saw it too, and shifted his arm to point his shotgun at her as she ran toward us. I slammed it with Hardedge just as he fired, and his shot went wide, striking the concrete instead of Tifa. She ducked under his arm and pummeled his ribs with her fists, ending with a right hook to his jaw. He staggered, and I caught the side of his shoulder with one of my swords. The edge of Buster's wide blade drew a thin line of blood as it struck. He grimaced as he steadied himself, backing away from us and eying us coldly.

"That was a very expensive suit," he said.

I didn't waste any words. Instead, I let my swords do all the talking, slashing again and again in a dizzying string of spinning slices and cuts that went high, low, and everywhere in between as Tifa spoke with her fists and feet, landing blow after blow and keeping him too off balance to fire his shotgun again or to do anything except block our attacks and stay on his feet. We couldn't let up, though. This had to end here. Tifa's eyes shone with the same fierce determination that burned within me, and I knew we were on the same wavelength.

Pain suddenly sizzled along my left side as Rufus managed to get a hit in with his sword, but I ignored it and kept fighting, slashing at him again but not landing my mark. Then I called upon the Poison materia at the base of Hardedge's blade. There was a flash of light, and a swarm of sickly green blobs converged around Rufus and struck his body in a venomous blast of magic before dissipating.

Before he could recover, Tifa swept the sword from his hand with a swift roundhouse kick, and it sailed over the railing in a bright flash of spinning metal. Rufus backed up, his shotgun held out before him, and alternated his aim between myself and Tifa. As she slowly closed in on him to launch another attack while I did the same, Rufus narrowed his eyes at her and pulled the trigger. But there was nothing but an empty click, and I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. Then Tifa glanced at me. I looked at her, nodded, and she nodded back, knowing exactly what I was planning.

We both struck at Rufus at the same time, but he did the last thing we'd been expecting. He ran away, speeding back across the balcony to where his helicopter had been circling this whole time, the rope ladder still hanging down from the side. Before we could reach him, however, he grabbed onto the ladder and smirked at us.

"That's all for today," Rufus laughed.

Tifa and I could only watch helplessly as he flew away, the chopper disappearing quickly out of sight, its rotors whirring. It was a moment or two before I could pull my eyes away, though. He had eluded us, just as slippery as an eel, and I hated it.

"Damn," I swore. "I couldn't finish him."

Tifa came over and put a hand on my shoulder. "It's not your fault, Cloud. We'll get him, sooner or later."

"Yeah. This is gonna get complicated, though."

"I know," she agreed. "But we need to get out of here first."

I nodded. "Right. Let's go."

We hurried back inside the building, running down the stairs until we entered the site of what must have been a fierce battle. The remains of a Shinra machine of some kind lay scattered everywhere, pieces of it still smoldering in places, and I hoped the others were alright. Picking our way through the debris, Tifa and I raced through the doorway and back to the escalator room, running down the moving stairs floor after floor until we reached the 59th. I remembered there was a second set of elevators here, just off to our left as we stepped into the main area, and we went to them at once.

We got in as soon as the doors opened, but when Tifa reached over to press the button for the first floor, I gently took her hand and shook my head, suddenly knowing what to do and where to go. I had been in this elevator before. In the dream.

"No, Tifa," I said. "Not there. Third floor."

She glanced at me. "Why?"

"Call it a hunch. Just trust me on this, alright?"

"Alright, Cloud," Tifa smiled and nodded, and I let go of her hand. She pressed the button for the third floor. "I'll always trust you."

I flashed her a small grin. "Same here, Tif."

When the elevator chimed a few moments later and the doors slid open, we stepped out onto the third floor. My heart pounding, I looked to the right, knowing before I saw it exactly what would be there, what I had found there before, in the dream. What Jess had shown me. And it was. Oh, but it was. As I walked over and ran a gloved hand over the seat, I closed my eyes for a moment. A bittersweet ache filled my heart as memories of the dream, of my ride with Jessie in that timeless place, filled my mind, and a hard lump formed in my throat.

_Jessica… thank you. For everything…_

"Are you okay?" Tifa asked.

I opened my eyes again and let out a long, shaky sigh. "Yeah. I'll be fine, Tif. Go on downstairs. I'll be right behind you."

She nodded, squeezed my hand, and ran down the stairs. Just as on the highest floors, there were two open stairwells, one on either side of the area and both covered in purple carpet. They were, I noticed, wide enough for me to ride down. I put my jumbled emotions aside for now and slid onto the seat of the motorcycle, gripping the handlebars. And just like in the dream, the keys were in the ignition.

"Time to ride, Jess…" I whispered.

Taking hold of the keys, I turned them and gunned the engine.


	22. BOOK ONE: MIDGAR - TWENTY-ONE

**BOOK ONE: MIDGAR**

* * *

**TWENTY-ONE**

I spun aside as a barrage of gunfire shattered the glass doors at the front of the first floor lobby. Aerith an' Red stood nearby an' outta sight of the Shinra soldiers outside while I flattened my back against the wall next to what was left of the doors an' slapped a fresh clip into my gun-arm. I didn't know how we was gonna get outta here, an' I didn't have a lot of extra ammo, but I wasn't gonna let us be caught again or worse. I jus' hoped Cloud an' Tifa got down here soon.

I took a peek outside. "Shit… We're surrounded! If I was alone this wouldn't be a thing, but I got a reputation to protect."

"You all get out while you can," Aerith said, walkin' over to me. "It's not you they're after. It's me."

"Yeah, well, that ain' happenin', girl. You got caught up in this over Marlene. Now it's my turn to help you!"

Aerith had kept my little girl safe, had saved her, an' I'd be damned if I wasn't gonna do the same for her. I owed her that much. The Shinra soldiers pulled back for jus' a minute to regroup, so I scattered 'em with a few shots before duckin' outta sight again when they fired back. I was gettin' pretty tired of this, though. The heat gauge on my gun-arm was buildin' up again, an' I figured a blast or two of fire might jus' clear us a path outta this place. Whippin' up my gun-arm, I dashed back into the doorway an' shot again at the soldiers outside. Then the heat gauge was ready again, an' I grinned.

"Okay, playtime's over, you jackasses!" I yelled.

"Thank you, Mr. Barret!" Aerith exclaimed from behind me.

I glanced over at her as I ducked behind the wall again. "Who you callin' Mr. Barret? That don't sound right!"

"Well, then…" Red said. "If you are through talking, may I suggest that we think of a way to get out of here."

I frowned, mutterin' under my breath as I did. "Huh? Oh, oh yeah. You're cold, man. Jus' like someone else 'round here I know."

"Did you say something?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Not a thing. So what're we gonna do?"

"Any ideas?" Aerith looked at us.

"I got a few more big shots left, but I dunno if it'll be enough to get us outta here without them fools chasin' after us the whole damn time. We could probably break outta here, but they'd be right on top of us an' I don't fancy runnin' all the way back to the slums."

Jus' then, Tifa came runnin' down the stairs. "Barret!"

"Tifa!" I sighed in relief. "Where's Cloud?"

"Everyone! Over here!" she said, motionin' for us to follow her.

I blinked. "What's up? Where's Cloud?"

"He's coming!" she answered. "Hurry, hurry!"

We followed Tifa to the back of the lobby, where a light blue three-wheel pickup truck was sittin' out on display. When we did, I suddenly heard an engine rumblin' above us, an' I looked up an' saw Cloud ridin' down the stairs on one of them Hardy Daytona motorcycles. Red and I hopped inside the bed of the truck while the girls got into the cab, Tifa slidin' behind the wheel. A moment later, we was movin', speedin' right off the platform an' smashin' through another display.

We followed after Cloud as he circled 'round the front of the lobby an' sped up the second set of stairs to the third floor. We stopped there for a minute, an' when I glanced at the huge windows across from us, I saw what he had in mind. _Pretty clever, SOLDIER boy. We might jus' get outta this mess after all._

Revvin' the engine of that motorcycle of his, Cloud nodded, an' we all nodded back. Then he sped off the edge of the edge of the platform, flyin' across the room an' smashin' through the glass. We came up right behind him, an' a second or two later we landed on the highway with a thud that rattled my teeth. Cloud drove alongside us as we raced down the road, an' not that far behind us, a whole bunch of Shinra troops on motorcycles was closin' fast.

The chase was on.

* * *

We sped down the highway, Shinra soldiers on motorbikes coming up right behind us. There must have been almost two dozen of them at least. I held Hardedge in one hand while driving with the other. I knew exactly where to go. Jessie had shown me in the dream. It was the same highway she and I had ridden on, and I knew where it went. All we had to do was get there.

That wasn't going to be easy, though. Just as I thought that, the first of the soldiers caught up to me, readying his gun. I took him out with a backhand slash that sent him flying off his bike, but two more replaced him less than a second later. I ducked my head and swerved the Hardy as they started shooting at me with their rifles while two other soldiers sped past and rammed their bikes into the truck.

_Damn! I wish you and your bombs were here with me, Jess._

I whipped Hardedge out to the left in a tight arcing cut, taking out the soldier on that side, then while Barret shot down one of the ones at the truck with his gun-arm, I hit the other with a blast of cold from the materia Aerith had given me back in the Shinra security office after we had escaped from our cells and gotten our stuff back. The soldier froze and tumbled away, and his driverless bike kept going for a few seconds before falling over in a broken heap. Then another soldier behind him couldn't turn away in time and crashed right into it.

Another rattle of gunfire, and the second bike by the truck skidded away, shot to pieces by Barret's gun-arm. A second later, he fired a blast of sizzling orange flame, another one of his big shots, past me and into a knot of three more mounted soldiers that had been about to overtake me. They flew apart in all directions, but more drove right through the mess, shooting as they came.

I slashed two of them aside, but two more caught up to the truck, swerving to avoid Barret's gunfire and ramming into either side of the truck as they did, slamming it back and forth between them. I gunned the Hardy's engine and sliced open the one on the left. A flash of green light suddenly caught my eye, and barely a second later, I saw the other soldier's motorcycle simply explode in a burst of magical fire as Aerith brought her arm with the glowing materia orb in her wrist guard back inside the cab of the truck. Our remaining pursuers fell back, and for a few moments we were on our own. I looked up and saw the end of the road approaching. We were almost there.

The last few soldiers sped up and came back into range again just a moment later, though, but they weren't alone this time. Glancing back, I saw something big on six spiked wheels coming up not too far behind them. Between my sword and his assault gun, Barret and I took out the soldiers easily enough, and soon there was only that huge machine as it smashed right through the burning wreckage of the fallen motorcycles and their riders as it chased us down.

We couldn't fight that thing like this, and besides, we were running out of road. So as we reached the overhang where the highway ended, I pulled over to one side and brought the motorcycle to a stop while Tifa parked the truck alongside it. I got off the Hardy, stood up, and readied Hardedge while the others got out and joined me. Red still looked too spent from fighting back in the Shinra Building, so I motioned for him to wait a short distance behind us.

"Red, stay back with Aerith," I said. "The rest of us can handle this thing. Aerith, see what you can do for him."

She nodded and hurried with Red towards the end of the highway where it hung out over the edge of the plate while Tifa, Barret, and I all fanned out across the width of the road as that hulking machine finally bore down on us. It screeched to a halt, its engines revving as we hefted our weapons and narrowed our eyes.

Atop six large, spiked wheels was a robotic torso with four curved, short arms like talons, and pair of thick exhaust pipes sprouted from its back and over top of the squat metal cylinder that was its body. Clouds of thick black smoke swirled around it, and I felt the back of my throat start to burn as I tried not to cough.

Barret opened up with his gun-arm, firing his lightning-enhanced bullets at its upper body while Tifa and I ran in side by side and started hitting its lower half with sword, fists, and feet. I dodged to one side as one of the curved arms slashed at me while Tifa drove her foot into the side of one of the wheels and smashed the hub cap apart with her fists. Then I noticed the engine getting louder.

"Tifa! Back off!" I said, doing the same thing myself.

She leaped aside just the machine sped right at us, kicking up dust as its tires squealed and spun, and I barely avoided being perforated by the spikes. Then the thing drove back to its original position, lashing at us with its arms again. Tifa ducked and went to work on another of the wheels while I swept Hardedge across from left to right, deflecting one of the machine's attacks and severing the arm that had made it. Barret's gun-arm sang the whole time, punching holes into the metal torso and leaving showers of sparks in its wake. I was cutting at another one of its arms when the whole machine suddenly backed up and the twin pipes lit up in an angry orange glow.

My eyes widened. "Barret, get down!"

Not waiting for him to answer, I dropped my sword and practically dove at Tifa, flattening her beneath me onto the ground and wrapping my arms protectively around her as huge lines of searing flame spewed from both of the machine's exhaust pipes. Flames surged all around us, and sweat beaded across our skin as the heat washed over us. Over my shoulder, I saw the machine bearing down us, and in a second it would run us over, its sharp spikes tearing us apart. We couldn't get out of the way, trapped as we were by the blazing inferno, but there was no way I was leaving Tifa, either.

But just as the machine got close, a furred crimson form suddenly leaped through the air, over the fire, and landed on top of it, biting and clawing, and the machine spun crazily to the side, curved arms lashing about, and missed us by less than a foot as it went by and a blast of fire blew off one of the exhaust pipes. I looked up to see Aerith, her arm up high, standing beyond the line of flames scorching the road, and then I remembered the Ice materia she had given me.

Moving my own arm, I focused my thoughts on the magic, calling forth a stream of ice that put out the flames almost at once. A moment later, a huge dark-skinned hand was reaching down for me. Letting go of Tifa, I took it, and Barret hauled me to my feet while Aerith hurried over and helped Tifa get up as well.

"You guys okay?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, Aerith. Thanks. Thought that was it for us."

"Hell no, Spike!" Barret grinned, picking up my sword from where I had dropped it. "We ain't goin' down yet!"

I took Hardedge back. "Right. Now let's trash this sucker."

"Damn straight!" Barret agreed.

While he and Aerith raced back into the fight, hitting the damaged machine with bullets and fire spells, Tifa paused and smiled at me for a moment. "Thanks, Cloud. I owe you one."

"Don't mention it," I smirked. "You can pay me back later."

She laughed and adjusted her gloves. "I'll do that."

I was sure she would, too. Tifa and I always had each other's backs, and we always would. I didn't want it any other way. Reaching over my shoulder, I drew Buster in my left hand and held Hardedge in my right as Tifa readied her gloved fists, the mythril claws gleaming in the light as her dark hair swirled around her.

"Ready?" I asked.

She nodded. "Let's go."

We ran over to where the others were fighting the machine, and as I sliced it open in a series of blinding cuts one after the other in a rapid blur of motion, Tifa slammed it with a series of quick jabs, burying the mythril claws into the side of the thing's metal body and yanking them out again and again. Red tore off the other exhaust port with a swipe of his paw while Barret shot off another of the machine's arms and Aerith tended our injuries with her healing wind.

Jumping up, I struck the machine with three quick slashes that left gleaming trails of energy behind them that lingered for moment before disappearing in a blast of magical energy. The machine shuddered and smoked as it tried to hit us, but we kept moving, Barret unleashing one of his big shots while Tifa hit it with a somersault kick that smashed its torso with a creaking of metal. Aerith followed it up with another burst of magical fire as Red ripped at the exposed wiring with his claws until the whole contraption started blowing apart.

He jumped off, landing smoothly on the pavement nearby as we all backed away to a safe distance. The machine simply exploded seconds later into a brilliant orange fireball that threw shards of scorched metal everywhere as huge plumes of smoke billowed from the wreckage. We all turned away and ducked when it happened, and it was a moment or two before we finally straightened and looked back.

The machine, or what was left of it, lay in a smoldering ruin by the side of the road. At the sight of the fire, I remembered another fire, one from long ago, and that old familiar rage filled my body. With my gaze on the horizon, I walked slowly toward the end of the road and tried to avoid thinking for now about the last time I had been here. With Jessie in the dream. I understood now what she had meant, and I knew what I had to do. He was out there now, and I had to find him.

"Well, what do we do now?" Barret asked.

I answered him without turning around. "Sephiroth is alive. I have to settle the score."

"Is that gonna save the planet?"

"Seems that way," I said.

He hefted his gun-arm. "Then, I'm goin'! I gotta, you know. For my team. Biggs, Wedge, an' Jessie. To… honor 'em an'… carry on what they started. An' for Marlene. Always for Marlene."

I understood. "Aerith?"

"I'll go, too," she agreed. "There are things I need to know."

"About the Ancients?" I wondered.

She nodded. "Many things."

Tifa came to stand beside her. "I guess it's goodbye, Midgar. There's nothing left for me here now…"

I sighed. Had I caused all this? If I hadn't taken the job and helped Barret blow up that first reactor, maybe Shinra wouldn't have acted out against us the way they did. Maybe the people of Sector 7 would still be alive. And Biggs and Wedge. And maybe… maybe Jessica. But then… I wouldn't have met Aerith, and she would probably have been caught by Shinra sooner or later. And Red would still have been an unwilling test subject in Hojo's lab. I just… I didn't know what to think. But I couldn't ignore the sense of guilt that gnawed at me, either. All I knew was that I couldn't stand to be in Midgar anymore.

Just as in the dream, abandoned construction equipment sat off to the left side of the highway past the guard wall, and over the edge hung a long iron chain that stretched all the way to the ground. Motioning to the others, I walked over to it, ready to climb down. But before I did, I turned and took a last look at the area, at the last place I had been with Jessica. The motorcycle stood empty and alone, and I shoved aside the bittersweet memories of our dream before they could overwhelm me. I just didn't want to think about it right now.

Instead, I climbed down the chain and didn't look back again. The others followed one at a time, none of us saying anything or needing to in that moment. I wondered how Red would make the descent. He was nothing if not clever, though, and with his claws unsheathed, he clung to the chain and made his way down a little at a time until he stood on the ground with the rest of us.

A low wall surrounded the outer slums, and a short distance away, a locked door led into Sector 5. Before us lay the badlands, tinged with the pink and yellow hues of the coming dawn, and for a moment we all just stood and gazed at the wilderness as the enormity of what we were about to undertake began to sink in.

Barret looked at Aerith. "We told your mom to go somewhere safe, so Marlene should be safe, too."

She smiled. "Yeah, I'm sure she is. Thank you. Mom said she didn't want to stay in Midgar anymore. Maybe it's for the best."

"Probably," I agreed.

"You know what? This is the first time I've ever left Midgar."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? Are you worried?"

"A little," she admitted. "No, maybe a lot. But I have my bodyguard, right? We had a deal, after all."

"Yeah. And I still have mine, too."

She laughed. "That's right! I almost forgot!"

I smiled, but then it faded when I noticed Tifa alone off to the side, staring off in the distance. I went over to her. "You okay?"

"I don't know," she said. "I guess this is the start of our journey."

I shivered, remembering what Jessie had told me in the dream. Her words hadn't been all that different. I hoped that Tifa was up to it. She looked pretty shaken, but after all we had been through, I didn't blame her. I was still trying to process it all myself. And it wasn't an idle stroll we were venturing out on, either.

I looked at her. "It's dangerous. You sure you want to go?"

"I don't really have much choice. But you know, it should be alright if you keep your promise."

"I intend to, Tif. Always."

Now she smiled. "I know you will, Cloud."

Red got up from where he had been sitting and padded over to us, his flaming tail swishing idly behind him. "As for me, I'm going back to my hometown. I'll go with you as far as that."

"Fair enough," I agreed. "Alright everyone, let's…"

I had been about to say "mosey," but then a memory suddenly shot through my mind and for a moment the pain was so deep that I almost couldn't breathe. Jess, laughing the other night when she had heard me use that word as we had prepared to leave for the Sector 4 plate. Had it really been only two days ago? It seemed like another lifetime now. She was gone. And I… I couldn't say it. Not then. Not for a long time. I just stood there for a moment, a knife in my heart.

"Cloud?" Aerith asked.

I shook off my thoughts. "I'm fine. Let's go."

"We need a leader for our journey," Barret said. "'Course that could only be me."

"You think so?" Tifa asked.

Aerith shook her head. "I think it should be Cloud."

Me? A leader? Why had she thought that? I didn't know. But I was elected just the same. I sighed, not really caring for the assignment, but I didn't have much choice. Aerith's knowing gaze told me that right off. I had almost forgotten how devious she could be.

"Shit…" Barret grumbled. "Awright. Go northeast to a town called Kalm. We'll meet up there. Shinra's not jus' gonna forget 'bout us, so it's too dangerous to go together like this. Let's split up."

I nodded. "Right. Aerith, Red, you're with me. Tifa, you and Barret go on ahead. And watch yourselves out there."

"We will, Cloud," Tifa said.

"Later, at Kalm!" Barret waved as they started off. "We'll be waitin' at the inn for you!"

Aerith waved back. "We'll see you there!"

"Good luck," I added.

We watched in silence until Tifa and Barret finally disappeared out of sight amidst barren clumps of rock and low canyons, the sun slowly rising overhead. Then we started off ourselves, Aerith on my right and Red on my left. Kalm was thirty miles or so away, and we were on foot, so we wouldn't get there until early tomorrow. We had no food and no way of getting back into the slums to get anything, so we were going to have some shopping to do once we got to Kalm.

In the meantime, with our stomachs rumbling, we moved on, none of us speaking for a while. We went at an easy pace, not rushing, and I kept my eyes ahead of us as we ventured slowly into the badlands. The boots that Aerith and I wore crunched lightly across the dusty ground, but Red made barely a whisper with his paws as he moved. The region seemed utterly lifeless, just miles of barren, brown and gray rock, and I remembered what Barret had said to me on the train, about how all the life here had been drained by the reactors. Now I understood. Would it spread? I wasn't sure, but I was going to do whatever I could to stop it. I was going to fight Shinra and Sephiroth. I didn't care how far I had to travel or where I had to go. I was going to stop both of them no matter what it took. I had to. I had promises to keep and a score to settle. And nothing was going to get in the way of that.

* * *

It was dusk when Barret and I finally stopped for the night in an out of the way clearing surrounded by low canyon walls on three sides. Exhausted, my legs aching, I sat down with my back leaning up against the rock face and panted for a while as I tried to catch my breath. I saw Barret sit down next to me, as worn out as I was.

I thought of Cloud, missing him and hoping he was alright. Where was he out here? I wished he had let me come with him, but I wasn't at all surprised. It made sense that he'd want to keep Aerith close after all she had been through with her capture and imprisonment. I knew how important it was to keep her safe. But I couldn't quite suppress the flare of jealousy that rose up within me. She was my friend, and I hated that feeling that seared my stomach like a simmering flame. I couldn't let it or my feelings for Cloud come between us. My friendship with her was too important to me. And I knew Cloud wasn't ready for anything now anyway. He was so determined to find Sephiroth, and I also saw clearly enough the pain still lingering in his eyes from losing Jessie. Losing the guys, two good men who he'd just begun to build friendships with, had been bad enough. I had been pleasantly surprised at how he had begun to warm up to Biggs and Wedge.

But losing Jessie had to have been so much more difficult for him. I had never expected him to fall for her, and I don't think he did, either. But he had, just the same. And while I wanted to help him, I just didn't know how. I was still trying to process it all myself. From the open side of the clearing, Barret and I could see Midgar off in the distance, and I tried not to think about all that had happened.

"I'm so tired…" I breathed.

Barret nodded. "Then rest. We still got a ways to go yet."

"I will, but…"

"What is it, Tifa?" he asked.

I could feel my emotions welling up, surging within me like a tidal wave, memories of the last few days threatening to overwhelm me. I sat there, seeing not the barren lands around us or the city far away, but all the precious things I had just lost. My friends. My home. The life I had known. They were… all gone.

At that last thought, I gasped and leaned forward, the tears finally bursting forth. "Oh, Barret! What's happened to us!?"

"I don't know, girl. I don't know," he wrapped his arms around me, his own voice not quite steady.

I clung to him, the enormity of our loss suddenly hitting me like a sledgehammer to the face. We were adrift, everything and everyone we had known cruelly ripped away. I hadn't had time to really think about it before what with the hectic events surrounding Aerith's rescue. Now, though, it was all I _could_ think about.

I let out a long, shuddering breath. "I'm sorry, I just…"

"Don't be apologizin', Tifa," Barret shook his head. "You got nothin' to apologize for. Jus' let it on out, you hear?"

"Are… are you sure?" I sniffled.

He patted my shoulder. "Yeah. We got a long road ahead of us. Best get this out now while we still got time. Ain't gonna do you no good to keep it all bottled up inside, girl."

I smiled gratefully at him, noticing then that his own eyes weren't exactly dry either, then buried my face in his broad shoulder and wept. Sobs poured out of me one after the other as the grief overtook me. For the first time since the plate had fallen, I gave myself to it completely. I don't know how long I cried, the tears blurring my vision and flooding my face with wetness.

It was a pain that I hadn't felt since Nibelheim, and I had hoped to never know it again. _Biggs… Wedge… Jessie…_ I thought of them, and I thought of my home, of the Sector 7 slums and the people I had known there, of the life I had built in that place over the last few years. Now it was all gone, buried underneath a hundred tons of broken rubble, and I was on the run from Shinra. A homeless fugitive with nowhere to go except on a quest I barely understood.

Then I thought of Barret, and how hard all this must be on him as well, and the tears and broken sobs kept coming, as much for him now as for myself. He was in the same situation I was, had been there longer and had been closer to the others than any of us. Guilt ate at me, too. I couldn't help it, and I knew that Barret must have been struggling with it himself. But he didn't say anything. He just held me as I wept, and for the moment, that was enough.

Eventually, my chest stopped hitching and my breathing relaxed. I didn't let go right away, though. I just leaned against him, feeling spent, emotionally drained, but also cleansed. The pain of loss still hurt, and I knew it always would, but I felt like a heavy weight had been rolled off my shoulders. Lifting my head up from Barret's chest, I wiped my eyes and nose with the back of my arm and sat back.

"You okay now?" Barret asked.

I smiled humorlessly. "I doubt I'll be seeing okay for a while. But… I'll be alright, Barret. I feel a little better now. Thank you."

"Anytime, girl. We gotta stick together."

"That's right," I agreed. "What about you? Are you okay?"

He sighed. "I feel the same as you, Tifa."

I put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll get through this, Barret."

"Yeah, we will. Now we best go an' get some shut-eye. Got to make an early start tomorrow."

I nodded. "When will we reach Kalm?"

"Should get there by noon, I think," Barret answered. "We're 'bout three hours or so away now."

"Alright, then. Goodnight, Barret."

He settled back against the rock wall. "Night, Tif."

I stretched out upon the stony ground, sliding an arm underneath my head to serve as a makeshift pillow, and gazed up at the stars so far above us. There were so many of them, and I thought of that night long ago when Cloud and I had sat on the water tower and he had made his special promise to me. As I slowly let myself drift away, I sent him one final thought before sleep finally claimed me.

_Goodnight, Cloud._

* * *

As the sun dipped slowly beneath the edge of the western horizon, Aerith, Red, and I made camp on a low bluff about two dozen miles or so into the badlands. Well, I don't know if you could call it a camp. We just climbed the low rise and sat down, our stomachs growling and our throats dry. We had no food or water, and neither did Tifa and Barret. We hadn't been able to get back inside the slums to get anything, either, what with how Shinra kept the outer doors locked.

"How's everyone holding up?" I asked.

Aerith laid her staff down next to her and stretched her arms. "I'm fine, Cloud. Glad to sit down, though. My feet are killing me."

"We did cover a lot of ground today," I said.

"Don't I know it. Anyway, it feels good to rest for a while."

Red yawned and laid down a short distance away from us. "Indeed. I will see you all in the morning."

"Night, Red," Aerith called to him.

But he was already out, his one eye closed and his chest rising and falling with his breath. Aerith giggled and then busied herself adjusting her dress and gazing at the stars that were slowly starting to come out. While she did that, I stood up, took both of my swords, and stuck them into the ground point first. Then I walked close to the edge of the bluff, the wind ruffling my hair, and looked back at Midgar, so far away now. My hand slid into my pocket and came across something hard, plastic, and rectangular, and I knew in an instant what it was.

My legs gave out, and I fell more than sat as I pulled out the object. It was the ID that Jess had made for me. I'd almost forgotten that I still had it. She had put so much of herself in it, and I had never blamed her for the malfunction that set off the train alarms. Jess had just wanted to do something special for me, and I had known that. I just stared at the card, not really seeing it but seeing Jess instead. And Biggs and Wedge as well. They hadn't been so bad. I wished I could have gotten to know them better. But mostly it was Jessie that my thoughts turned to. I still missed her, and I realized then that there was something I hadn't done yet that she had asked me to do. I had to let her go. But how could I do that? I didn't want to, but I knew she was gone.

I looked up as Aerith came and sat down with me. She looked over and saw what I was holding. "What's that?"

"It's the ID that Jessie made for me," I answered.

"Your special friend. Did you find her?"

I looked away, not sure how to answer at first. Finally, I sighed and nodded. "Yeah. I did. At the pillar. She… didn't make it."

Aerith's hand closed over mine. "I'm so sorry…"

"I was there with her, at the end. She… she loved me, Aerith. And I told her how I felt about her. That I… cared for her."

I went on, telling her about Jess and everything that had happened in the pillar. I told Aerith of how Tifa and I had found her near the top of the stairs after Biggs had sacrificed himself to hold off the remaining Shinra soldiers. I talked about how glad I had been to see Jessica again and how she had run down the stairs and into my arms before Shinra's attack had forced us apart again.

From there, I told Aerith about how the three of us had fought the roboguards and I had gotten back to Jess only to find myself caught in the sights of that chopper, unable to move in that split second that had seemed as if it were an eternity. As she listened, her hand never leaving mine, I explained to Aerith how Jessie had saved me, pushing me aside just as the chopper opened fire and shot her instead of me. And of how shocked and anguished I had felt when I saw her fall.

I told Aerith of the promises I had made to Jessica as she lay dying in my arms, and of how she had blown herself and the Shinra soldiers up in order to give Tifa and I the chance reach Barret before it was too late. I also told Aerith about the memorial her mother had helped us to make for Jessica, Biggs, and Wedge before we had infiltrated the Shinra Building to rescue her.

But I said nothing of how I had seen Jess again when her spirit had led me inside, how she had helped me find the star pendant, and of the mysterious dream I had shared with her. Those things I kept to myself. They… they were a private and personal thing for me. Something very special. That's why I never said anything about them until now. But the story we're telling is very important, and those things are a part of it. A part of who I am. Who I really am, that is.

When I was finished, I simply sat there, staring across the badlands at the dark, distant bulk of Midgar many miles away as it lay cloaked in its perpetual haze of deep gloom, Jessie's ID in my hands. As I thought about her and the short time we'd had together, I felt Aerith moving to sit close behind me, and a moment later, she draped her arms over my shoulders and laid the side of her head against my back. She didn't say anything, just held me, and as she did, I reached up and gently grasped her arm with one hand, clinging to her as the emotions rolled through me. I let them run their course, let myself feel all the pain and sadness I had kept locked down before.

I didn't cry, not exactly, but the tears that I had been unable to shed before finally leaked out. I let them slide down my cheeks as I sat there with Aerith, my eyes closed and my breathing slow and steady. I let the memories both good and bad fill my mind. It was the first time since I had lost Jess and the guys that I had time to ponder and process all that had happened, to really take it in.

How long I sat with Aerith like that, I don't know. But as time wore on, I felt that sharp knife in my heart finally begin to withdraw, and the pain gradually lessened. It wouldn't go away entirely, not ever, but I felt like I could live with it, like I could finally do what Jessie had asked me to do, what she had wanted me to do. I could let her go.

I opened my eyes. "Thanks, Aerith."

"Anytime," she whispered. "I'm always here for you, Cloud."

I smiled at her over my shoulder. "Same here. I'm your bodyguard, after all. It's part of the job."

She laughed. "Sure is! And I'm holding you to it!"

Now both of us laughed, and I found myself feeling so much better for it. Aerith just had that effect on me, and I was more grateful for her soothing presence, humor, compassion, and understanding than I ever could put into words. I was glad she was here with me on this journey, and wherever it took us, I knew she would be at my side.

"I don't doubt it," I grinned. "Anyway, we've still got a lot of ground to cover before we hit Kalm tomorrow, so let's turn in for the night and get some sleep."

Aerith chuckled. "You won't get any argument from me."

Slipping the ID back into my pocket, I stretched out on the ground as Aerith curled up not so far away, her mythril staff lying close beside her. I slid my eyes closed, thinking then about Tifa and hoping she and Barret were alright. I figured they were, but as long as my friends were out of sight, I couldn't help worrying about them a bit.

I laughed a little to myself as I suddenly I realized that I considered Barret a friend. When had that happened? I remembered how I hadn't really liked him that much at first, and the feeling had been more than mutual. But somewhere along the line, things had changed. We trusted each other now. Funny the twists life takes sometimes.

As I lay there gazing at the stars glittering like diamonds above us, I heard Aerith scoot over a little. "It's so pretty…"

"Yeah," I said. "Your first time seeing the sky like this?"

"It is, yes. It's so much better than I ever imagined. How many stars do you think are up there, Cloud?"

I folded my hands behind my head and smirked. "A lot."

Aerith laughed and smacked me across the shoulder with a playful punch. "Oh, you are _so_ terrible!"

"Hey, you asked," I shot back with a grin.

"Well, I'm going to count them," Aerith declared. "I'll let you know how far I get."

I chuckled. "Have fun, Aerith. Goodnight."

"I will, Cloud. Sweet dreams."

I fell asleep soon afterward, more easily than I had expected to out here on the barren rock. When I awoke early the next morning to find the sun shining above us, I sat up and looked around. The others were still out, but I knew that we needed to get moving soon, so I stood and woke them, moving first to Aerith and then to Red and gently shaking them each on the shoulder.

While they both stretched and blinked open their eyes, I went over to where I had left my swords, pulled Buster from the ground, and slid it into its harness on my back. Then I took Hardedge in hand and went over near where I had sat last night. I gazed out at Midgar, the city that was more than miles away now, and found it didn't hurt as much to do that as it had before. With a light breeze tossing my hair and the edges of my clothes, I stood there for a moment and took a long, slow breath, then whispered a few quiet words into the early morning air.

"Goodbye, Jessica…"

A moment later, Aerith took my arm. "You ready?"

I smiled a little and nodded. "Yeah. I think I am, Aerith."

Knowing exactly what I meant, she gave me a smile of her own and gently led me away from the edge of the bluff to where Red was waiting for us. Feeling rested and renewed, I took the lead as we made our way off the bluff and into the lower badlands. Turning to the northeast, we put our backs to Midgar and headed toward Kalm.

* * *

_Here ends BOOK ONE: MIDGAR.  
The story continues in BOOK TWO: PURSUIT as __Cloud and his friends  
travel across strange new lands, encounter __a spunky new ally,  
evade Shinra's deadly forces, and attempt __to __catch up to Sephiroth  
to see for themselves if he really has returned…_


	23. BOOK TWO: PURSUIT - INTERLUDE

**BOOK TWO: PURSUIT**

* * *

**INTERLUDE**

_After we had finished telling the first part of our story, recording it as the elders wrote down all of our words, we took a break for a little while, scattering to different parts of the canyon village. Talking about all these things, the pain and loss we endured and the struggles we faced together, wasn't easy. It brought back a lot of memories, both good and bad. But I suppose that's the nature of this sort of thing._

_Still, we had gotten this far. What happened in Midgar was the dark foundation of our long journey. I'll never forget what happened there, the things that we did and what they led to. The pain and death they caused. It's not an easy thing to live with, but as Tifa said before, facing it, talking about it, is the only way to really deal with it. I don't think any of us has ever really done that until now._

_The people we call heroes are expected to look out for everyone else, but who looks out for them? Who is there for them when they're the ones in need? My friends and I, all we had was each other, and that's still true today. We've become an odd sort of family, but a family nevertheless. We had slowly drifted apart over the last few years, each of us wrapped up in our own lives, the days of our journey together falling farther and farther behind us. It would have been easy to forget._

_But I didn't want to. I couldn't afford to. If you forget the past, you'll just make the same mistakes over again, and I didn't want that. So I was glad when Nanaki called me last month and told me of his idea, his plan for us to all come back together and lay down our story. He pitched it as a history project, to preserve the truth of our journey for those who came after us, and that's certainly a part of it._

_But I've come to agree with Tifa's thought that this project is also for us, to help us confront the dark things that had happened, that we played a part in so long ago, and finally put them to rest. To stare unflinching at the uglier parts of ourselves and find the means to cleanse our hearts and minds of the lingering pain left by all we had been through and the losses we had suffered. To forgive ourselves for what we were and what we had done, and to renew our bonds with each other._

_I know she would want that._

_When we stopped after finishing our story of Midgar, I wandered up to the top of the settlement, out in front of the observatory. From there, I could look out and see the entire canyon for miles, the desert wind warm and dry as it whispered past me. It's a peaceful place, and you should see it for yourself sometime if you ever get the chance._

_As I stood there, I let thoughts and memories of Midgar and all that had happened there fill my mind. The bombings we had carried out, the lives they had taken. The friends I had made and lost in that dark place. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie. I can still hear Biggs' laughter, see Wedge's goofy smile, and feel the soft touch of Jessica's lips on mine._

_Some accounts say I never paid much attention to any of them, that Jessie and I never had anything tender together. Others claim the four of us were best friends right from the start. Neither of those are true, as you now know. But it's just an example of how our story has been mistakenly retold by those who know less about it than they think._

_In any case, I found that Tifa was right. The memories are there, but I don't feel bound by them anymore, by the pain and guilt of what we did there and what came of it. We've been searching over the years for a way to atone for all that, I think. Myself, Tifa, and Barret most of all, whether we realized it or not. I think that's part of why we fought so hard against Sephiroth and Shinra during our long journey. But we were so caught up in finding redemption and forgiveness from others that we never took the time to give it to ourselves. Aerith told me once how important that was, that sometimes we were the ones who needed to do the forgiving. It's not easy, but it's the only way to really move on._

_We still have a long way to go to tell the rest of our story, and even as I record this, I'm making my way back down to the Cosmo Candle to get started on the next part. But we had all agreed that before we moved on, we should pause first to reflect on what we had told of our tale so far. It's not been easy, but I believe it's worthwhile, both for you and for us. And I hope you'll feel the same way by the time this is all over._

_Kalm was where the next phase of our journey started, and so that's where we'll pick up. A lot had happened by then, but still more was yet to come. Far more than we could have imagined. We were chasing after the man in the black cloak. Sephiroth. And that pursuit would lead us across the continent and eventually away from it. It was a difficult journey, full of rumors and whispers and deadly encounters, but it also bound us even closer together as friends and companions._

_And maybe that was the most important thing of all._

— Cloud Strife


	24. BOOK TWO: PURSUIT - ONE

****BOOK TWO: PURSUIT****

* * *

**ONE**

Kalm was a small but nevertheless bustling town sitting within the shadow of Midgar, which wasn't much more than a dark blot along the southwestern horizon. A high stone wall surrounded Kalm on all sides, with an open gate to the west. As I passed inside with Aerith and Red, I saw stately avenues paved in bluish-gray cobblestones. Rows of modest homes and shops, all with peaked, slanting roofs of blue shingles, lined the roads. People walked to and fro, and a car or truck drove down the road here and there, but it was much quieter than Midgar.

An inn, the _Silver Dragon,_ stood nearby. It was larger than most of the other buildings in the area, but like them it had a slanted, shingled roof and white walls framed with dark wooden beams. Two stories tall, it featured a number of windows that looked out onto the street before us, and above the door hung a handcrafted wooden sign engraved with a detailed carving of a dragon with wide, outstretched wings and above it, the name of the inn in thin, sweeping letters. I waved when I caught sight of two familiar figures waiting for us there.

Tifa smiled and waved back. "Hi, guys!"

"'Bout time you showed up," Barret grunted, but he was grinning. "We was gonna go eat without ya."

Aerith laughed. "Oh, don't mention food! I'm starving!"

"You didn't have to wait for us," I added.

Tifa shrugged. "It's alright, Cloud. We figured you wouldn't be very far behind us, so we didn't mind."

"Got us a table over at that place across the street," Barret said. "So now that you're here, let's all go an' eat. Also got us all rooms at the inn for tonight. Figured we could use a good night's sleep before we started chasin' after Sephiroth."

I nodded. "Good idea. We'll need to get supplies, too."

"Yeah, we'll get to that later. But first, after we're all done eatin', let's come on back here an' you tell us 'bout Sephiroth an' what he's tryin' to do to the planet an' the Promised Land."

"Right," I agreed. "You all need to know what we're up against."

With that settled, we all walked over to the small restaurant Barret had mentioned. Smells of hot food drifted out the door, and I realized I hadn't eaten since dinner with Barret and Tifa in Wall Market the other night. My stomach rumbled as we stepped inside the place. As soon as we did, the host up front saw Red and blinked.

"I'm sorry, but we don't allow pets in here," the man said.

Red glanced pointedly at him. "I am no one's pet, good sir. And I'll go where I please."

The man's eyes widened. "Oh, of… of course! M-My apologies, sir! Right this way, please."

"You enjoyed that," Aerith giggled as we walked.

Red winked at her. "Maybe a little."

After our long walk from Midgar, it felt good to finally sit down for a while. We ordered, talked, and ate, forgetting for a little while all that had brought us here and simply enjoying the moment. It was a chance to catch our breath and renew ourselves before we set out in pursuit of Sephiroth tomorrow, so we took it, and gladly. But as I sat there at that long table with everyone, more listening than talking, I remembered a request Biggs had made before he died.

I held up my glass. "To absent friends. Biggs, Wedge… and Jessie."

"Absent friends," Barret raised his own glass, his voice thick.

The girls did likewise, and Red used both his forepaws to hold his glass up as well. I was surprised, since he had never met the others, but I was grateful nonetheless. We all clinked our glasses together and then drank, and for a moment it was quiet. Then Aerith asked us if we could tell her more about Jess and the guys and what they had been like, and so we did. Well, Barret and Tifa did most of the talking since they had known them longer than I had. But I added a few things here and there from the short time I had spent with them.

As we all talked, I noticed that Barret and Tifa seemed to relax, the pain that had been lingering within their eyes lessening as they spoke. I found I didn't feel quite so bad myself. Talking, telling stories about our lost friends and who they were, seemed to help, and I couldn't help but admire Aerith's cleverness and compassion. She had known right away what we needed without any of us saying a thing and had used her own curiosity as a pretext to give it to us.

When we were finished, we all went back over to the _Silver Dragon _and headed upstairs. It was a modestly decorated place with a common area and several doors leading to different bedrooms along the hall and the stairway leading back to the first floor. As we all sat down in chairs across the room except for Red, who simply picked one corner and laid down with a yawn, I felt everyone's eyes on me and knew it was time. I had a lot to tell them, and it wouldn't be easy listening.

Barret leaned forward in his chair. "So, let's hear your story, Cloud. You know, 'bout Sephiroth an' the battle for the planet."

"Right," I agreed. "Let's see, where to start…"

"Let's hear it all," Barret said.

I had to admit he had a point. So I began. "I used to want to be just like Sephiroth, so I joined SOLDIER. After working with him on a few missions, we became friends."

Barret frowned. "You call that a friend?"

"Yeah, well…" I said. "He was older than me and hardly ever talked about himself. So I suppose you'd call us war buddies. We trusted each other. Until one day…"

Tifa looked as though she were about to say something, her mouth slightly open, but then she closed it again. What was on her mind? She was listening intently, but the expression on her face was unreadable. I didn't know what to make of it. Did she believe me? And why wouldn't she have? She had been there too, after all.

"One day…?" Aerith asked.

I nodded. "After the war with Wutai, it was SOLDIER's duty to put down any further resistance against the Shinra. That was five years ago, and I was sixteen…"

* * *

"_It sure is raining hard."_

_From where I stood in the back of the truck, I stared out through the front windshield and watched as the drops splattered endlessly across the glass in thick sheets. I could hear them plunking on the roof of the truck's cab and wondered how long it would last. I didn't like the rain, but there wasn't much I could do about it, either. So I turned to look around at the others who were with me._

_Two Shinra soldiers in blue uniforms and domed helmets sat nearby on a pair of small crates. One of them didn't look too good, with his arms wrapped around himself and a tinge of green on his face, or at least what I could see of it. I went over to him, wanting to encourage him and make sure that he would be alright._

"_Hey, how are you doing?" I asked._

_He waved me off. "I'm fine."_

"_I wouldn't know…" I shrugged. "I've never had motion sickness. But hang in there, okay? I'm sure it'll pass pretty soon."_

_He nodded. "Thanks, Cloud. I will."_

_I grinned at him, patted him on the shoulder, and went over to check on the other soldier. "Hey. Everything okay?"_

_This one didn't answer, but I didn't mind. I didn't know him as well. So I just went back to pacing back and forth along the length of the truck bed, my skin tingling with excitement as I did a few squats and pondered the mission ahead of us. I didn't know very much about it or even where we were going, but it didn't matter. As long as it was dangerous and I got to see my commander in action, that was enough._

"_Hey," he ordered. "Settle down."_

_I paused for a moment and looked at him. Sephiroth. He was sitting down on another wooden crate, but if he'd been standing, he would have had to bend over, because he was over six feet tall. Long, straight strands of silver hair flowed down past his shoulders and hung below the waist of his jet black cloak. All of his clothes were made of the same black leather, including his pants, tunic, boots, and gloves. Only his high gray shoulder guards were different, and his pale green eyes glowed with the light of the mako infusions that were a part of SOLDIER._

_I showed him the two colored orbs in my wrist guard. "They gave me some new materia. I can't wait to use it!"_

"_Just like a kid…" he muttered._

"_You going to brief us about this mission?" I asked, more than eager to get started. I wanted to impress him._

_Sephiroth nodded. "This isn't a typical mission."_

"_Good!" I pumped my fist._

_He raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say that?"_

"_I joined SOLDIER because I wanted to be just like you," I explained. "But by the time I finally made First Class, the war was already over. My hopes of becoming a great hero like you ended with the war. That's why I always sign up whenever there's a big mission. It's kind of a way to prove myself, you know? Say, how do you feel, mister Sephiroth?"_

"_I thought you wanted a briefing?" he reminded me, his eyes cold._

_I nodded. "Oh, um… yeah, sure."_

_Sephiroth's frigid gaze held me fast. __"Our mission is to investigate an old mako reactor. There have bee__n __reports of it __suddenly __malfunctioning and producing brutal creatures. First, we'll __eliminate the monsters. Then we'll locate the problem and neutralize it."_

"_Brutal creatures? Where?"_

"_The mako reactor at Nibelheim," he answered._

_My mouth dropped open. "Nibelheim… that's where I'm from."_

_I hadn't been there in years, but I could still remember the cold air of the mountains, the quiet of the place, and how small it was. The night I'd made my promise to Tifa under a thousand twinkling stars. Would I see her? I hoped so. I also hoped that she would be as impressed as everyone else that I had gotten into SOLDIER._

"_Hmm…__" Sephiroth mused. "Hometown…"_

_S__uddenly there was a huge jolt, and the truck shuddered and nearly fell over as something slammed into it. __The truck righted itself at the last minute with a heavy thump and settled back down onto the tires. I'd had to grab onto one side of the cab in order to stay on my feet as the soldiers barely managed to keep from sliding off their crates. Sephiroth, however, hadn't budged so much as an inch._

"_Sir…__" the driver called out. "S-Something really strange just crashed into the truck!"_

_S__ephiroth __nodded__. "That would be our monster…"_

_He got up, and we headed outside, our boots splashing into the mud as the rain poured down around us. The two soldiers followed us a short distance away, their rifles ready, but what stood before us was way more than they could possibly handle. I reached back and pulled out my sword as Sephiroth grasped his own weapon firmly in his hands. A slim, curved blade of flawless, polished steel almost six feet long. Almost as legendary as its wielder, the katana he called Masamune had an edge so sharp that it was said it could cut through anything. I hoped that someday, my own sword, Buster, would become just as famous __as his was._

_I__n the meantime, though, we had a monster to slay. It was a dragon, huge and green and angry, and I hefted Buster, more than eager to show Sephiroth what I could do. The creature snarled at us, opening its mouth to spew out a stream of fire, but it never got the chance. Sephiroth saw to that. He was much too fast, his movements graceful and deadly, and all I could do was gape in awe as he struck._

_Sephiroth closed in on the dragon in far less than a heartbeat, slicing Masamune first one way and then the next, again and again so fast that my eyes could barely follow. He was a rapid blur of motion, a whirlwind of death all in black, his silver hair flying out behind him, and as I stood there and watched, I suddenly realized that the rain didn't seem to touch him at all, as though he repelled it somehow. __And with every sweep of his sword, the steel katana seemed to resonate with an eerie hum at the peak of each slashing blow. Sephiroth __cut__ as much through the rain as __through __the monster, and neither one could stand in his way._

* * *

I looked at everyone as I finished telling them about the battle with the dragon, wanting to drive home just how dangerous our enemy was. "Sephiroth's strength is incredible. He is far stronger in reality than any stories you may have heard about him."

"So… where do you come in?" Aerith asked.

"Me?" I answered. "I was mesmerized by the way Sephiroth fought. Nothing could touch him."

I remembered it, all too well. How fast he had moved, slashing and slicing and dodging as if he'd been carried by the wind itself, or as if he _were_ the wind. A living hurricane, cutting down anything in his way. A spinning cyclone of destruction that no man or monster could survive. And yet… somehow, I had. I still didn't know how. But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. So let's get back to where we were before I confuse you any more than I probably already have.

Barret frowned. "So how do we beat him?"

"I don't know," I sighed. "We'll have to figure that out on the way. It won't be easy, though."

"We'll find a way," Tifa assured us.

Aerith nodded. "Yeah. So tell us more, Cloud."

"There wasn't much left after the battle," I went on. "So we got back in the truck and drove on. And then we reached Nibelheim."

* * *

"_How does it feel?" Sephiroth asked._

_I stopped as we approached the gates of Nibelheim, a little startled by the unexpected question. The two soldiers stood at attention right behind me, and Sephiroth had paused a few yards in front of me just outside the edge of town. The smell of mako burned my nose, and off in the distance, the Nibel Mountains rose up like a line of jagged teeth._

_I blinked. "What do you mean?"_

"_It's your first time back to your hometown in a long time, right?" he asked without turning around._

"_Yeah," I agreed. "It's been a few years."_

_It had been two, actually. Two years since I had left home after I had made my promise to Tifa at the water tower and told everyone in town I was joining SOLDIER. Two years since I had passed through this gate to start my journey to Midgar. It all seemed so long ago now. The town was quiet but didn't seem much different than I remembered._

_Now Sephiroth did face me, but his gaze was distant. "So how does it feel? I wouldn't know because I don't have a hometown…"_

"_What about your parents?" I wondered._

"_My mother is Jenova. She died after giving birth to me. My father…"_

_He trailed off then, overcome by a sudden fit of laughter. It was cold, though, utterly humorless, and I had no idea what he had seemed to find so darkly amusing. I just stood there and watched, not feeling any sort of mirth myself, until Sephiroth finally composed himself._

"_What does it matter?" he shrugged._

_Sephiroth turned away again but didn't move right away. Ever since we had arrived here on the outskirts of town, he hadn't seemed quite like himself. He seemed preoccupied, almost. His pale green eyes wandered to the mountains as if he was looking for something. The reactor, maybe? It was why we were here, but… I wasn't so sure. I didn't have a clue what it might be, though, so I decided not to worry about it._

_Instead, I decided to talk with one of the soldiers, the one who'd been struggling with motion sickness back on the truck. He seemed better now, but still a little nervous. What was his name? I tried to recall it, but I just couldn't remember. We were friends, had been for a while. I knew that he wanted to join SOLDIER, so I always tried to help him when I could and show him the ropes._

_But why couldn't I remember his name? _

_Maybe it's simply the passage of time. I'm not sure. This all happened several years ago, after all. But I still feel as if I should know it somehow, like it's hanging just out of my mental reach. I don't like the thought that I simply forgot a friend's name. But at least I still remember the guy, even if I can't recall what ever became of him._

_Well, those were my thoughts when I first told the others about what happened in Nibelheim. I know the truth now, but we're a long way from talking about that yet. But I wanted to show what was in my mind then, so that when we do get there, you'll understand things better. Confused? Sorry about that. I know how this all sounds. But sometimes how you get to the truth is as important as what that truth is._

_I patted my friend's shoulder. "Hey. How are you holding up?"_

"_Alright, I guess. But if you keep wandering around here, you'll get in trouble. I don't think you want that."_

"_I'll be fine," I grinned. "Don't worry about me."_

_Just then, Sephiroth motioned to us. "Alright. Let's go. And be sure to watch yourselves. The mako smells pretty bad here."_

"_Tell me about it!" I agreed. It really did._

_Without another word, Sephiroth headed through the gate, and after a moment, I followed him, the two soldiers just behind me, one on either side. We had no idea what was in store for us, or the nightmare that this mission would eventually become. Or that Nibelheim itself and everyone in it would be gone in the next few days._

* * *

"Yo, wait a minute!" Barret cut in.

I frowned. "What is it?"

He scratched his head. "Sephiroth's mother. Her name was Jenova, right? I remember now. That's that damn headless spook that was livin' in the Shinra Building."

"That's right," I nodded.

There was definitely a connection, of course, but I hadn't gotten to that part yet. And I wasn't going to if I kept getting interrupted. I knew he was trying to figure it all out, but I wasn't even halfway through the story yet. Apparently, Tifa saw it as well because she raised an eyebrow at him and fixed him with an angry glare.

"Barret, would you please just let us hear what Cloud has to say?" she sighed. "You can ask questions later."

He blinked. "Tifa, I was only–"

"Enough, Barret!" Tifa snapped, abruptly cutting him off. Then she looked back at me. "Okay, Cloud. Continue."

Aerith and I exchanged a startled glance. She looked as puzzled as I felt, and at first I didn't say anything. What had gotten into Tifa all of a sudden? She seemed agitated, leaning forward in her chair and biting her lip as she sat their frowning with her fists clenched in her lap. Why was she so on edge? I didn't think it was just because Barret had been a little impatient. It seemed like there was more to it than that. But what that might have been, I didn't know. It couldn't have been easy for Tifa to hear about Nibelheim again, though, especially after all we had just been through. Maybe that was it. Anyway, I tried not to worry about it as I continued my story.

* * *

_The town was quiet as we walked up to the inn. Everyone was inside their houses, afraid of monsters. Or maybe they were afraid of us. I don't know which it was. Maybe both. The town didn't look very different than I remembered. The old water tower still stood in the middle of the square where it always had, and a cluster of homes and shops with slanted roofs of red shingles and dark wooden beams framing white walls sat around it with lights glowing in the large windows._

_Beyond all that loomed the old Shinra Mansion, and it looked just as creepy and abandoned as ever. An iron fence surrounded it, and past the large clearing nearby stretched the winding path leading outside town to the mountains and the mako reactor that had been built atop Mt. Nibel. That was our destination, but it was getting late now and I knew that we wouldn't be going up there today._

_Sephiroth turned to us. "We leave for the reactor at dawn. Make sure you get to sleep early. All we need is one lookout, so you others, get some rest. That will be all."_

_I nodded. "Understood."_

_He started to head inside, then stopped and looked back at me. "Oh, and… you may visit your family and friends."_

_Then he was gone, and one of the soldiers went with him. The other one stayed outside on lookout duty. Since my own house was nearby, just on the other side of the town square, I decided to go and see my mom for a bit. I walked around the water tower to the other side and approached the door, strangely nervous without knowing why._

_I don't know if you'd call us a family. My father died when I was still young. An accident up in the mountains, or so I heard. I don't remember much about him. Just his face, stern but kind. My mom lived alone in the house, the same one I'd grown up in, and she was still there when I came inside after opening the door. She was a vibrant woman, hadn't changed at all. Her hair was as blond as mine and pulled back into a bun like she always had it, and a white apron was fastened around her bright orange dress. When I saw her, she was fine._

_But a few days later, she died. Along with so many others._

"_Uh, hi…" I said._

_She looked up from where she'd been cooking something at the stove. Mom loved to cook, and she'd been pretty good at it, too. "Yes?"_

_I didn't know what to say at first. Then her eyes widened. "Cloud!? Is that you? Welcome home, Cloud!"_

"_Hi, Mom," I replied before getting cut off by a hug._

_She took a step back and smiled. "Come here… Let me take a look at you! You look so handsome. So this is a SOLDIER uniform?"_

"_Mom, I…" I began, laying down on the bed._

"_My, how you've grown," she marveled, sitting nearby. "I bet the girls never leave you alone."_

_She went on, her lips pursed. "I'm worried about you. There are a lot of temptations in the city. I'd feel a lot better if you just settled down with a nice girlfriend."_

_I rolled over on my side, not wanting to talk about it. "I'm alright."_

"_You should have… an older girlfriend, one that'll take care of you. I think that would be the best kind of girl for you."_

"_I'm not interested," I told her._

"_Are you eating right?" she went on._

_I sighed. "I'm fine. The company takes care of me."_

"_Is that so?" Mom raised an eyebrow. "I know you can't cook, Cloud. I've been worried sick about you. Now you just rest right here for a while and I'll go and get dinner ready. It'll do you good to have a home-cooked meal or two while you're here."_

_And so it went, Mom fretting and worrying about me like she always did. But the food was as good as I remembered. When dinner was over, I excused myself and left, promising to come back and see her again before I had to return to Midgar. The sun was sitting low in the horizon as dusk crept over the town, but there was one other place I wanted to go before I headed back to the inn, someone else I wanted to see._

_I swallowed as I knocked on her door, more nervous than I had been in front of my own house. There was no answer, though, and I wondered if she just hadn't heard me. Reaching out a hand that wasn't quite steady, I tried the knob, and it turned easily. The door swung open with hardly a sound when I gave it a light push, and for a moment I simply stood there trying to decide what to do._

_Finally, I took a tentative step inside. "Hello? Tifa?"_

_Silence greeted me, broken only by the ticking of a grandfather clock in one corner of the family room. In another corner stood a pantry made of polished wood, and a small mahogany table rested against the wall on the other side of the room near the base of the stairs. The hardwood floor was clean, and a small rug lay on it in front of the open doorway leading into the kitchen and dining room. I peeked through it for a moment, but nobody was in there, either._

_Was Tifa in her room? I had thought she might be home, so I walked up the dark wooden stairs, each step loud in my ears. Two doors led into the bedrooms on the second floor. Ahead of me, the first opened into her father's room, but he wasn't there. I was glad for that. He had never liked me, though I hadn't really cared. The second door was on my left and led into Tifa's room. My heart pounding, I went inside._

_But she wasn't there. Up against the wall across from me stood a tall wooden dresser, and next to it was her desk. A large double window with a set of soft brown curtains dominated the front wall, and at the bottom of the room, just around the corner from the door, were Tifa's bed and an upright piano. I started to leave, but then my curiosity won out instead. I walked over to the piano as memories of the lessons that Mom had given me when I was a kid filled my mind._

_Yeah, I can read music. I'm a bit out of practice now, but I suppose if I were to put a little work into it, I could learn to play again. Tifa's gotten back into it over the years, and she's actually pretty good at it. She said if I was ever interested, she'd teach me. Maybe I'll take her up on that, now that I think about it. After all, who says that a sword-swinging, monster-slaying warrior can't be a musician, too? Pretty interesting combination, don't you think?_

_Anyway, after playing a few chords on the piano and listening as the notes filled the air, I left Tifa's house and went back outside. It was nearly dark now, so I went over to the inn and stepped inside. The old man that all of us kids had always called Gramps stood behind the counter, and he looked up at me as I came in._

"_The whole inn's booked up by Shinra for the night," he started, then his eyes widened when he saw who I was. "Cloud? Is that you?"_

_I nodded. "Yeah, Gramps. It's me."_

"_It must've been two years since you left. Say, you've really moved up in the world, being under Sephiroth's command."_

"_Thanks," I said. "Where is he, by the way?"_

_Gramps pointed to the steps. "Upstairs. Hasn't come down once since he got here earlier."_

_I wasn't surprised. Sephiroth wasn't really a sociable sort. Taking my leave of Gramps, I started to head toward the stairs but stopped as I saw another old man standing at the opposite side of the room, near the door to the kitchen. He wasn't familiar, though, and I was sure that we'd never met before. I walked over to see him._

_He was older, his hair and beard shot through with gray, but he was as fit and muscular as any man half his age could hope to be. His clothes were simple, just a sleeveless leather vest, white pants, leather gloves, and a dark red cape. His blue eyes found me immediately._

"_So, is Shinra here to get rid of the monsters?" he asked._

_I responded with a question of my own. "And who are you?"_

"_I'm Zangan," he replied, not at all deterred by my directness. I liked that. "I travel all around the world teaching children martial arts. In this town, a girl named Tifa is my student."_

"_Did you say Tifa?" I blinked._

_He smiled. "Yes, indeed. She has good sense, and she'll be a powerful fighter. Oh, and while you're here, I'd be interested in seeing some Shinra techniques. And if you see anything of mine you can use, you might want to incorporate it into your fighting style."_

"_I'll keep that in mind," I told him as I walked away._

_I found Sephiroth in the upstairs hall just outside our rooms, gazing pensively through a large window that looked out over the town and the mountains beyond. He didn't look at me as I approached. He didn't even move. He just kept staring out the window, and I wondered what was on his mind. I had never seen him so troubled before._

"_What are you looking at?" I asked._

"_This scenery…" he murmured. "I feel like I know this place."_

_I looked out the window with him. "How?"_

"_I don't know. It doesn't really matter. I've hired a guide to the mako reactor. I've heard that she's young, so I hope we can rely on her. We have an early start tomorrow. You should get some sleep soon."_

"_Yeah," I agreed. "Let's get some sleep."_

_I went into one of the rooms that had been reserved for us, put down my sword, and slipped off my boots. Then I laid down, more tired than I wanted to admit after the long day, and tried to fall asleep. I was excited about the mission, but a strange sense of foreboding had come over me as well, and I found I couldn't shake it. Tomorrow would see the start of our mission. And the beginning of the nightmare._


	25. BOOK TWO: PURSUIT - TWO

****BOOK TWO: PURSUIT****

* * *

**TWO**

I paused for a moment in my recollection of Nibelheim and took a sip of the drink I'd brought with me. My throat had been getting a little dry with all the talking I'd been doing. And I found I needed to collect my thoughts a bit before moving on to the darker parts of my tale. The others all sat and waited, and I actually found it a little amusing at how drawn into the whole thing they had become.

"So you went to the reactor in the morning?" Aerith asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. But first, we all went over to the field just outside the Shinra Mansion to wait for our guide. That was Tifa."

Aerith grinned. "The childhood friends reunite!"

"I was really surprised with her. I hadn't known that she was going to be our guide. Her dad was there to see us off, since he was the leader of the town. He wasn't happy about it, though."

"I remember," Tifa said. "He told me he had a bad feeling about the mission and hadn't wanted me to be a part of it."

Barret glanced at her. "But you went anyway, I bet."

She sighed. "Yeah…"

I looked at her, noticing how she still seemed a bit uneasy. Tifa had relaxed her fists and had stopped clenching them, but she wasn't acting like herself. She kept biting her lower lip as she sat in her chair, leaning forward as she waited for me to continue my story. I figured something about it was bothering her, but I didn't know what it was, although the story itself was disturbing enough on its own.

In any case, there wasn't much I could do about it at the moment. I took another sip of my drink, set it down on the side table next to me, and prepared to continue telling what had happened all those years ago in Nibelheim. The second day of that mission would see our trek up to the reactor and a horrific discovery within it.

* * *

_I saw that a small crowd had gathered near the Shinra Mansion as I walked up. Sephiroth and the two soldiers were out there, and so was the martial artist I'd met at the inn last night, Zangan. A photographer stood nearby along with few curious townsfolk, and talking with Sephiroth—or more accurately, arguing with him—was Tifa's father, the mayor. He was clearly agitated, but I didn't know why at first._

_He was glaring, a frown creasing his face and causing the hairs of the thin moustache above his upper lip to bristle. "Listen to me, Sephiroth. If something happens up there…"_

"_Trust me," Sephiroth cut him off, then looked at me as I walked up. "Once the guide gets here, we're heading out."_

_It was only a moment later that I heard footsteps behind me. When I turned around to see who was coming, my eyes widened. It was Tifa. She wore a white sleeveless blouse, a vest of tooled brown leather with a short skirt to match, a pair of leather boots that reached up to her knees, and a wide-brimmed brown hat sitting on her head. She looked a lot like one of those chocobo wranglers I'd heard about once._

"_I'll be alright, Dad!" Tifa said, walking right up to him. "I have two men from SOLDIER with me."_

_He sighed. "I know, but…"_

"_I'm Tifa!" she ignored him and turned to us. "Nice to meet you!"_

_Finally, I found my voice. "Tifa! You're the guide?"_

"_That's right," she answered proudly, her hands on her hips. "I just so happen to be the number one guide in this town."_

"_It's too dangerous! I can't get you involved in this!"_

_Sephiroth's cold gaze swept over me. "That won't be a problem if you protect her. Let's go."_

_But before we could get moving, the photographer hurried over to us, holding his camera in both hands. "Mr. Sephiroth! Please let me take one picture for a memento!"_

_Sephiroth sighed. "I don't have time for this…"_

"_Tifa, can you ask him for me, too?" the photographer pleaded._

_She glanced uneasily back and forth between me and Sephiroth and blinked, seemingly unsure of what to do. I took her hand before she could respond, raced over to the fence, and posed with her. I was eager to be in a picture but also hoped this would help resolve things and get Sephiroth to participate. He was still oddly moody, as he had been yesterday, and I hoped this might help him loosen up a bit._

_Finally, he walked over and stood on Tifa's other side, and the young photographer grinned and snapped a picture. "Great, thank you! I'll give each of you a copy once I get it developed!"_

_With that done, we all got ready to leave. Sephiroth started down the trail leading out of town without another word, and Tifa and the soldiers walked slowly behind him. I was just about to follow them when Zangan caught my arm. "There's nothing that'll harm the town, right?"_

"_Why do you ask?" I wondered._

"_The Shinra showed up here to eliminate any information that could damage the company. You pick these things up when you travel as much as I do. Just keep your eyes open."_

_I nodded. "I will, but it's Sephiroth. He'd never do that."_

"_Oh, my," he laughed, though there didn't seem to be much humor in it. "You sure do have faith. Just make sure it isn't misplaced."_

_Of course it wasn't. I knew Sephiroth. He wasn't about to wipe out a whole town. He was cold, sure, and a bit grim sometimes, but beneath all that, he was a good man. Or so I had believed at the time. I should have listened to what Zangan was trying to tell me, but I didn't want to. I just refused to believe that Sephiroth would ever do what he eventually did. I still hate how naive I was, how little I understood._

_I shrugged off Zangan's grip and hurried after the others. As we drew near to the mountains, the land steadily rose up, a stony path winding its way through the foothills of the jagged slopes. Pointed spires of dark gray rock stuck out from the ground here and there like monstrous teeth, bent and eerie beneath the overcast sky. An uneasy silence hung over the place as we walked along, and I found myself remembering all the dark stories and rumors about these mountains. The cold air was the same as ever, a chill whisper of wind like the breath of death itself._

_I shivered and walked on, following the twisting trail after Sephiroth and the others until we stood at the edge of a deep gorge. A few hundred feet across the gap rose Mt. Nibel itself, a twisting, ugly peak that rose up far into the gloomy sky. A long, narrow bridge of wooden planks fastened with rope hung suspended across the chasm, and for a minute we all just stood there and gazed up at the mountain brooding over us. Somewhere up there was Shinra's mako reactor. It had been built on Mt. Nibel many years ago. I wondered what we would find up there._

_Tifa moved first, motioning to us as she stepped out onto the bridge. "It gets harder from here! Follow me!"_

"_Let's go," Sephiroth ordered._

_I nodded and followed him onto the bridge, the soldiers right behind me. The wooden planks creaked and groaned with every step, and I held onto the rope railing and tried not to think about how high we were. As I went along, I couldn't help looking down for a moment. We were about a hundred feet in the air, I guessed, the floor of the gorge far below us, and I looked back up again in a hurry. Although I wasn't as afraid of heights as others, I still knew I'd feel better once we had crossed over to the other side and stood on solid ground again. But no sooner had I taken my next step than there was a sudden snap as one of the rope railings, already old and frayed, flew apart._

"_The bridge!" Tifa gasped._

_We all held on as the entire bridge suddenly tilted crazily to the side, and then a moment later, the other railing broke apart as well. I tried to keep my grip on it, but the wooden planks under my feet splintered as the bridge snapped in two. I fell, and so did Tifa and the others, and the two halves of the bridge swung away and slammed into the sides of the gorge, hanging limply against the rock as we plummeted down to the bottom of the ravine with a series of startled shouts._

_Pain exploded through my body as I landed, and for just a moment I blacked out. When I came to and sat up, I saw that everyone was nearby, either still sitting or already on their feet. I got up and brushed myself off while Sephiroth silently inspected our surroundings. We were at the base of Mt. Nibel, its dark, twisted slopes rising above us like something out of a nightmare. I shivered again, hating this place._

"_Everyone seems to be alright," Sephiroth noted. He looked at Tifa as she walked over. "Will we be able to get back?"_

_She nodded. "These caves are intertwined, like an ant farm. Oh, and Sephiroth… one person seems to be missing…"_

_I blinked, looking around, and saw Tifa was right. One of the Shinra troopers that had accompanied us was gone. Where was he? I guessed he must have landed in a different spot than we did. I hoped he was alright and that he'd get back to us. These mountains had become home to many strange and deadly monsters ever since the reactor had been built, and it was extremely dangerous for anyone to travel alone in these parts. So far, we had been lucky, but I knew we couldn't count on that._

"_It may sound cruel," Sephiroth replied. "But we've no time to search for him. We can't go back now, so we must go on. We'll all travel together from here. Let's go."_

_Although I didn't like it, I knew Sephiroth was right. We had to get to the reactor, and we had no way of knowing where the other soldier was. I sighed and got moving as we started climbing up the winding path up the mountain. Tifa took the lead with Sephiroth following just a step behind her. I came next, and the other trooper brought up the rear. Before long, I saw a cave entrance yawning open before us._

_We stopped for a moment after we stepped inside. Passageways went off in all different directions ahead of us, and the light from outside faded into a cluster of inky shadows not very far away. But it wasn't as dark as I'd thought it would be. There was a strange, pale green glow that faintly illuminated the cave, and I found it oddly soothing._

"_What's this?" I wondered._

_Tifa looked around. "A mysteriously-colored cave. How pretty…"_

"_It must be the mako energy," Sephiroth explained. "The mountain is especially abundant in it. That's why the reactor was built here."_

_We went on, Tifa choosing certain tunnels and passages as she led us steadily upward. We encountered a few monsters lurking about, but they fell quickly enough between me, the trooper, and Sephiroth. Well, mostly Sephiroth, to be honest. He was just too fast, too strong, and the creatures were often dead before I or the trooper could even ready our weapons. It was amazing to watch Sephiroth fight. It really was._

_Before long, the corridor we were in opened up into a large, winding ravine on the slopes outside. A few dry, withered trees rose up like lonely sentinels amidst the barren rock and dirt, their twisted, leafless branches stretching out toward the sky like skeletal fingers. That chill, endless wind whispered through the air, cooling my cheeks as I walked with the others up the path toward the summit._

_About halfway through the ravine we stopped short and stared for a moment. Just ahead of us lay a low mound of rock surrounded by a pool of shallow water. Nestled within an old tree stump atop that natural dais was a clump of greenish crystal, glowing brightly and bathing the area in a soft emerald radiance._

"_And what's this?" I asked._

_Sephiroth crossed over the shallow pool to the mound, and Tifa and I joined him as he spoke. "A mako fountain. It's a miracle of nature."_

"_It's so beautiful…" Tifa murmured. "But if the reactor keeps sucking out all__the energy, this fountain will dry up…"_

"_Materia," Sephiroth continued, his eyes fixed on the crystal. "When you condense mako energy, it produces materia.__It's extremely rare to see materia in its natural state."_

_I glanced at him. "By the way… why is it that when you use materia, you can also use magic, too?"_

"_You're in SOLDIER and don't even know that?"_

_I shook my head. "No, sorry. I guess I missed that lecture."_

_He sighed. "The knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients is held in the materia. Anyone with this knowledge can use the powers of the land and the planet. That knowledge then interacts with ourselves and the planet, calling up magic… or so they say."_

"_Magic…__" __I muttered. "A mysterious power…"_

_Sephiroth laughed, loud and long, and I nearly jumped__in disbelief. I had never heard him sound so lighthearted before, so humorous. So… so normal. It was almost shocking, and for a moment all I could do was just stand there and gape at him._

"_Did I say somethin' funny?" I asked._

"_A man once told me never to use unscientific terms like 'mysterious power'," Sephiroth replied, composing himself.__ "__It shouldn't even be called magic! I still remember how angry he was."_

"_Who was that?"_

_Sephiroth's eyes narrowed, his lip curling in disgust. "Hojo of Shinra. An inexperienced man assigned to take over the work of a great scientist. He was a walking mass of complexes."_

"_A mako fountain…" Tifa marveled. "So this is where the knowledge of the Ancients is."_

_We pressed on, climbing up the rocky, winding path as it twisted and turned its way up the slope. About an hour later, the reactor finally came into view, a tall cylinder of copper and bronze atop a high elliptical stone and metal platform. A network of thick pipes stretched off to the left and connected to a pair of holding tanks, one large and one small, set into the ground. In the front, a long set of metal stairs led up to an open doorway on the platform, and the Shinra logo was emblazoned across the very top of the reactor itself, just under the narrow dome of the roof and the wide venting__pipe rising up from it._

_Tifa sighed in relief as we approached the stairs. __"__We finally made it. We sure took the long way, though."_

"_Tifa, you wait here," I told her. "It could be dangerous."_

_She put her hands on her hips. "I'm going inside, too! I wanna see!"_

_Sephiroth shook his head. "Only authorized personnel can go inside. This place is full of Shinra's industrial secrets."_

"_But!" Tifa protested._

"_Take care of the lady," Sephiroth instructed the trooper._

_He nodded and moved a bit closer to her as Sephiroth and I climbed the stairs. Just before we reached the top, I heard Tifa complaining again, and I couldn't resist a slight grin at her words. Of course she was curious, and I knew that she wasn't happy about being left behind. But Sephiroth was right, and it was for the best, anyway. I glanced over my shoulder for a moment and saw the trooper shaking his head at her._

"_Mm, man!" Tifa huffed. "Better take real good care of me, then!"_

_Turning away, I followed Sephiroth inside__the reactor, navigating the maze of pipes, chains, and walkways_ _that filled the core. Far below us lay swirling pools of mako as well as the lifestream itself, and steam filled the air around us. A broad platform encircled by pipes and a railing_ _stood at the far end of the main__walkway, which was little more than a huge pipe itself and__a pair of low railings as it stretched all the way across the room. Set in the back of the platform was another doorway, and a nest of dials, valves, and spinning gears dominated the walls on either side of it. From within the doorway, a soft orange glow spilled onto the platform from the room beyond, and the hum of machinery filled the air._

_Within the next room, the floor rose up at a steep angle with several tiered rows of egg-like pods on either side of a central staircase. A thicket of huge pipes covered the walls in ceiling, and they and the stairs were all a rusty, metallic red. The pods were all gray, and each had a single round window in the front. What was inside them? I found I wasn't really sure I wanted to know. At the very top of the stairs I saw another door, but this one was closed, and just above it, a curving sign showed a single word. It was a name—Jenova. Sephiroth stood in front of__the door, lost in thought as he gazed at it and the sign overhead._

"_This is… Jenova, right?" I said, pulling on the door. It didn't budge. "It won't open…"_

_Sephiroth blinked as though he'd been splashed with cold water, then walked back down the stairs to the first row of pods. I followed after him, hoping he was alright. I hadn't meant to startle him. Why had he been so engrossed in studying that door? What was on the other side? Jenova, but what was that? What did it mean? At the time, I hadn't known. But soon enough, I would find out. All I knew then was that the name Jenova was vaguely familiar, but where I had heard it before, I couldn't remember. It dangled just on the edge of my mental grasp like greens before a plodding chocobo. It was maddening._

"_This is what caused the malfunction," Sephiroth knelt at the base of one of the pods and pointed. "This part is broken."_

_I joined him and nodded. "I see it…"_

_The valve had burst open at some point, mist and mako flooding the floor around here. No doubt the leak had caused the contamination that was responsible for creating the monsters infesting the region, although I wondered how that alone could do it._

"_Cloud, close the valve," Sephiroth ordered._

_I did so, snapping it back into place and twisting it until locked with an audible click. After tugging on the valve a bit to make sure it was tight enough that it wouldn't come loose again, I stood back up from where I'd been kneeling and followed Sephiroth over to one of the pods on the other side of the stairs. He still seemed preoccupied, and I could hear him as he muttered to himself while__he stood before the pod._

"_Why did it break?" he murmured._

_Then he took a look inside the pod's window. It was a long look, and for several moments, he didn't even move. I saw his green eyes narrow as he stared coldly at what__was inside. "Now I see, Hojo. But doing this will never put you on the same level as professor Gast."_

"_What is it?" I asked._

_He turned to me, pointing to the pods and pipes all around us. "This is a system that condenses and freezes the mako energy. That is, when it's working correctly. Now, what does mako energy become when it's further condensed. Do you remember?"_

_After a moment's thought, I did. __"__Oh, yeah! It becomes materia."_

"_Normally, yes," Sephiroth nodded. "But listen closely. This reactor is no ordinary power plant. Hojo put something else in there."_

"_Something else?" I wondered._

_He pointed to the pod. "Take a look."_

_As soon as I did, my eyes widened. "W-What is that!?"_

_Inside the pod was a nightmare. A monstrous thing that was all hard gray skin, a cluster of horns sprouting from its head, and a face that was vaguely, terrifyingly human, with clenched teeth and closed eyes. I stared for a moment, then staggered backwards a few steps and collapsed into a sitting position, my eyes still locked on the pod and its horrific contents. I couldn't believe it. I just couldn't._

_Sephiroth went on. "Normal members of SOLDIER are humans who have been infused with mako. You're different from the others, of course, but still human. But what are they? They've been exposed to a far higher degree of mako than you."_

_I shivered as I stood up. "Is this some kind of monster?"_

"_Exactly. And it's Hojo of Shinra that made these monsters. Mutated living organisms produced_ _by__prolonged exposure to extremely high levels of mako energy. That's what monsters really are."_

"_Normal members of SOLDIER?" I mused. "Are you different?"_

_When he didn't answer right away, I looked over at him from where I'd been staring at the pods. When I did, I nearly jumped out of my skin. Sephiroth was clutching his head with both hands, his eyes squeezed shut as if he were in pain. He trembled and shook with barely restrained rage, and my eyes widened in alarm. "H-Hey, Sephiroth!"_

"_No…__" __he breathed. "Was I?"_

_He drew his katana and started slashing at the pods, his eyes ablaze, and I shrank back. What was going on? What was he talking about? He sliced and slashed, but the pods resisted even his blows, the sound of their impact ringing in the air with each stroke as the bade hummed with the movement. I backed up, wondering how I was going to calm him down. I had never seen him like this before._

"_Were you what?" I asked. "Sephiroth, what's going on?"_

_He kept speaking to himself as if he hadn't heard me. "Was I created this way, too?"_

"_Sephiroth…__" __I tried again._

_At first, he continued to ignore me, crossing back over to the left side of the stairs to slash at the pods there. But after having no more luck with them than with the others, he finally answered me, though he didn't turn around to look at me yet. "Am I the same as all these monsters? You saw it! All of them… were human…"_

_I shook my head. "Human!? No way!"_

_Those things couldn't have been human. Could they? I didn't want to believe it. But that face I had seen in the pod, it had been partly human. I couldn't deny it, as much as I wanted to. And if that was true, what was Sephiroth? Was he right? Had he been made like this in some way? It was a chilling thought, one I didn't care for at all._

"_Ever since I was small," Sephiroth sighed, finally looking at me. "I've felt… that I was different from everyone else. Special, in some way. But… not like this. Not like this…"_

_Just then, one of the pods on the upper level shuddered as a shock of electricity coursed over it, blue bolts sizzling and crackling as the monster inside snarled and woke up. Jets of steam suddenly shot from the pod one after another through seams along the sides, and a moment later, it burst open, the front half falling forward onto the floor and taking the creature with it. It lay there, growling and looking up at the pipes above us. It had a tough gray hide all over its upper arms and body, but its muscular legs were a bright orange, and its fingers and toes ended in sharp claws. This had been human once? I couldn't believe it._

_As I watched, Sephiroth slowly climbed the stairs and walked over to the open pod and the monster lying in front of it. For several minutes, he just looked at the thing, gazing down at it impassively as it twitched__and grunted, apparently still not fully__aware of its surroundings. Then it saw Sephiroth, its eyes__meeting his__and holding them for a moment. I found I couldn't breathe, and everything seemed to stop as I watched and waited, wondering what was going to happen next. My heart was pounding, and my feet felt locked in place._

_In a blur of motion and steel, Sephiroth slashed__his katana across the monster__'__s chest. I gasped, staring in shock and utter disbelief with my jaw hanging open as the thing gurgled and died. Sure, it had been a monster, but… it had just been laying there, not attacking anyone. Sephiroth kept looking at it, watching it die, his pale green eyes taking it all in. Suddenly I wasn't so sure I knew him anymore._

"_Am I… human?" Sephiroth murmured._

_I didn't really understand what he meant. But what surprised me as well was the fact that Shinra was producing monsters. Experimenting on people and turning them into horrific creatures. Not to mention what the leaking mako was doing to all the other wildlife, mutating it into vicious and deadly beasts. How could the company possibly allow such a thing? I didn't want to believe it, but it was right there in front of me._

_Sephiroth sheathed his katana and headed back down the stairs. He brushed past me without a word and walked out of the room. With a last look around, I sighed and followed after him, still shaken by everything I had seen and learned. Passing through the doorway, I watched Sephiroth return across the main walkway and wondered what was going on in his mind and if he would be alright._

* * *

"Them damn Shinra bastards!" Barret swore. "The more I hear, the more I hate 'em!"

I felt exactly the same way. "Who would have ever thought that the mako reactor held such a terrible secret?"

I just… I just couldn't believe it. No wonder Sephiroth had kept me from going in. I wondered then how much he had suspected before he actually went inside. Cloud couldn't have known, of course. But… that wasn't the only thing. And that bothered me. His story, it… well, so far, there was a lot that fit my own memories, but… there were other parts that I wasn't so sure of. But I also knew that he hadn't finished it yet. So I decided to let him do that, first. Then I could take some time to think about the whole thing and go from there.

"Tifa…" Aerith asked me, "Were you waiting outside?"

I nodded. "Yes…"

"We returned to Nibelheim," Cloud went on. "After that, Sephiroth confined himself to the inn. He didn't even try to talk to me."

"Then he just disappeared, right?" I recalled.

"Yeah. We found him inside the biggest building in Nibelheim."

I glanced at the others as I explained. "The villagers all used to call it the Shinra mansion. It was really creepy…"

I had never been in it myself, but I could remember walking past it many times. I had even stopped once or twice to look at it. Standing by the fence and gazing uneasily at the huge old house that had sat empty and abandoned for decades, I had shivered at the thought of what must have gone on in there so long ago. There was no shortage of stories and rumors, of course, but nothing certain. And nobody, at least as far as I had known then, had ever dared to venture inside the mansion to learn the truth. I wasn't sure I wanted to know what it was.

Cloud continued. "Long ago, some people from Shinra used to live in that mansion…"

* * *

"_You're sure that's where he went?" I asked._

_The soldier, my buddy who'd had some trouble with motion sickness and who had returned with us from Mt. Nibel, nodded. "Yeah. I saw him go in there a little while ago while I was on lookout."_

_I took his shoulder. "Good job. Let's go!"_

_Together, we left the inn and headed outside. Then we hurried across town to the Shinra Mansion. Gathered around the front gate was a small crowd of people including Tifa, her father, the martial artist Zangan, and the photographer who had taken our picture earlier. They were all gazing at the big old house beyond the fence, but as the trooper and I walked up, they looked at me, my own uneasiness mirrored in their eyes. Motioning for my friend to wait with the others, I went on ahead, walking down the path to the front door, and entered the mansion._

_Inside, I stood within the main hall on the first floor and just looked around for a moment. On either side of me were two smaller rooms, and ahead of me to the right next to the wall, an old wooden staircase curved upward to the second floor, where the hallway there stretched off both to the left and the right. Under the stairs was another doorway, and a third stood right beneath the second floor hallway. A fourth doorway stood on the first floor across from the one under the stairs, and above the second floor hallway, light shone in from three stained glass windows. Dust and cobwebs covered everything, including the floor._

_A trail of footprints led up the stairs, and so I followed it. The prints didn't belong to Sephiroth, though. I could tell that right away. They were from another soldier, the driver of the truck. He had stayed behind when the rest of us had journeyed to the reactor on Mt. Nibel, and so I guessed he must have come in here not long ago._

_I found him just a minute later, in one of the upstairs bedrooms. His tracks had turned right when they reached the top of the stairs, and then right again at the end of the hall where it split in two directions. He stood just inside the room, his eyes fixed on another doorway at the end of the lefthand wall. This was more a sitting room, actually, and I guessed that the second doorway led into the actual bedroom._

"_There's no sign of Sephiroth," he said as I approached, "but I know I saw him go into this room…"_

_I went into the bedroom and looked around. It was empty, as he had said. The full-sized bed sat in the corner ahead of me alongside a pair of small windows, and a bookcase rested against the left side of the opposite wall. Next to it, the stone wall curved around to the window and the iron lamp hanging near it. Where was Sephiroth?_

_I walked over to the bookcase, not sure what to do, and looked at the rows of leatherbound volumes on the shelves. Cobwebs and dust lay here just as they did everywhere else, but as I looked more closely, I saw it had been slightly disturbed around one of the books near the top. Wondering what that might mean, I reached up and started to pull out the book. But when I did, it only went so far, held fast by some hidden mechanism as a loud mechanical grinding sound filled my ears and the stone wall next to me suddenly slid open to reveal a winding staircase._

_Not wasting a moment, I hurried down the wooden stairs, following them as they spiraled down into the gloom. At the bottom, I found myself standing in a long, rough__underground tunnel, almost like a cave. Thick, rusted iron chains hung down__from the ceiling here and there, and what looked like bones lay strewn across the rocky floor in several places along the walls. I swallowed and made my way down the tunnel, not sure what I was going to find down here but sure__Sephiroth had been here._

_Near the end of the tunnel__was a thick wooden door set into the wall on my__left. I stopped for just a moment, tugged on it, but it wouldn't even budge. Then I saw that it was locked with a large iron padlock. So much for that idea. What was in there? I wondered for a minute, then decided that it didn't really matter. Maybe I would find out some other time. But for now, I had other things to worry about._

_At the far end of the passageway was another door, but this one was open. Inside was what looked like a laboratory. Shelves full of books and beakers lined the walls, and in the middle of the room stood a large table covered with papers, lamps, bottles, and other various items. Against the far right wall stood a pair of cylindrical reinforced glass tubes big enough for a person to fit inside, though they were both empty now. To the left, a short tunnel lined with more bookshelves led out of sight._

_Sephiroth was there, pacing restlessly across the room, a large leather book grasped in his hands as he read from it aloud. "An apparently dead organism was discovered__in a 2,000 year-old layer of rock. Professor Gast named the__organism 'Jenova'. Jenova confirmed to be an Ancient. Jenova Project approved. Mako Reactor 1 approved for use."_

_He walked into the short passageway, ignoring me completely, and I followed him, both curious and concerned. What had he found in here? I wasn't sure I wanted to know, but I couldn't leave, either. I needed to find out what was going on with him. Sephiroth paused for a moment within the short hallway, looking up and talking to himself._

"_My mother's name is Jenova," he murmured. "The Jenova Project… Is this just a coincidence? Professor Gast… Why? Why didn't you tell me anything? Why did you die?"_

_I walked up to him, but he shook his head. "Let me be alone."_

_Reluctantly, I did as he asked. I left the laboratory and made my way back upstairs. But as I did, I decided I'd stay the night here, just in case. I didn't want to go too far. He might want to talk later, and I wanted to be here if he did. I had no idea just how misguided those thoughts were. Not yet, anyway. In any case, I made my way across the upstairs hall and sat down inside another bedroom, worrying about Sephiroth and wondering what was going to happen next._

_Sephiroth never left the mansion. He continued to read as if he were possessed by something, and not once did the lights in the basement ever go out. I checked on him now and again but never said anything or even let him know I was there. I would just peek in on him from time to time. Finally, after leaving the manor for a short time to visit my mom and get something to eat, I returned to the upstairs bedroom I had entered earlier and lay down on the bed. It was actually comfortable despite its age, and I fell asleep within minutes, completely unaware of the terrible nightmare that would take place tomorrow._


	26. BOOK TWO: PURSUIT - THREE

**BOOK TWO: PURSUIT**

* * *

**THREE**

Once again, I stopped for a moment or two before continuing with my story. I was getting to the darkest and most difficult part of it, and I didn't need to see the pain in Tifa's eyes to know that she was thinking the same thing. She knew it just as well as I did. It wouldn't be easy for her to hear it, any more than it was going to be for me to tell it, but the others had to know what had happened, who our enemy was, and what he wanted. That hadn't changed, I was sure of it.

"So Sephiroth stayed down there the whole time?" Aerith asked.

I nodded. "That's right. He never stopped and he never left. And it was during that time that I remembered how he'd told me by the town gate that Jenova was his mother's name."

"Jus' like I was sayin' earlier," Barret added. "But how…?"

"I'll get to that soon enough," I answered.

Tifa spoke then, as much to herself as to us. "I remember everyone was on edge that whole time. The air felt so still, so charged, and it was like we were all waiting for something."

I had felt it too, despite being stuck in the mansion for most of that time. As concerned as I had been for Sephiroth, I had keep seeing over and over again in my mind how he had killed that monster back in the reactor, how he had watched it die. There hadn't been any feeling in his eyes. There hadn't been anything at all. The creature hadn't threatened either of us, but Sephiroth had murdered it anyway.

Had he, in a way, been trying to kill what he must have thought he himself was at that moment? I hadn't been able to dismiss the idea, and it wasn't one that I liked. I shivered at the memory as I began to tell the final part of my story. "Early the next morning, I went back downstairs to see Sephiroth again. It was quiet, even more than usual. I knew that he was still there, but something was bothering me…"

* * *

_I sat on the edge of the bed, still tired despite the hours of sleep I had gotten. Something wasn't right. I wasn't sure what, but my instincts were on edge. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up as I glanced around, suddenly nervous without knowing why. It was quiet, more than before, as if a hush had fallen over the place._

_I got up, strapped on my sword, and walked into the hall. I made my way down the upstairs hall until I reached the sitting room. The soldier I had spoken to yesterday was still there, sitting in a chair. I wondered if he had even moved at all since I last saw him._

"_Anything?" I asked._

_He looked as uneasy as I felt. "Sephiroth seems different."_

"_You went down there to see him?"_

"_Only for a moment or two," he answered. "I wanted to see when we were leaving. He completely ignored me, like I wasn't even there. So I just came back up here for now."_

_What was going on? I didn't feel like whatever change Sephiroth had undergone was a good one. My nerves were just too much on edge for me to think otherwise. I knew there was only one way to find out for sure, so I entered the bedroom, opened the secret door, and hurried downstairs to the basement. It didn't take long to return to the laboratory. At the end of the short hall off to one side, I found Sephiroth sitting behind a desk in a small office filled with more bookshelves._

"_Who is it!?" he demanded._

_I stopped short, caught off guard by his tone. He sat in a high-backed leather chair beneath a bright chandelier, a single thick book spread open before him on the desk. He looked up at me, his pale green eyes filled not just with ice, but also fury and even hate. Not himself, indeed. Sephiroth was about as far from himself as any man could ever be, and I wondered what could have pushed him to this point._

_His eyes narrowed when they met mine. "Hmph… traitor."_

"_Traitor?" I echoed. What did he mean by that?_

"_You're nothing but an ignorant, selfish traitor. And I'll tell you why." He stood up and glared darkly at me. "This planet originally belonged to the Cetra. As a race of travelers, they would migrate in, settle the planet, and move on. It was said that at the end of their long, hard journey, they would find the Promised Land and supreme happiness."_

_Sephiroth's stare turned accusatory as he continued. "But then came those who disliked the journey. They put an end to their migrations, built shelters, and chose instead to live an easier life. They took what the Cetra and the planet had created without giving anything in return! And those, traitor, are your ancestors."_

"_Sephiroth…" I began, trying to understand both what he meant and what had happened to him. It didn't make any sense._

_He ignored me, though, and kept on going. "Long ago, disaster struck the planet. Your ancestors escaped. They survived because they hid like a group of frightened children. But the Cetra, they sacrificed themselves to save the planet. And after that, your ancestors continued to multiply like rodents. Now all that's left of the Cetra is in these reports."_

"_What does that have to do with you?" I asked._

"_Don't you see?" Sephiroth walked right up to me, almost in my face, his voice laced with barely restrained rage. "An Ancient known as Jenova was discovered within a 2,000 year old layer of rock. The Jenova Project. Its goal was to create people who had the powers of the Ancients. That is, the Cetra. And I… I am what was produced."_

_My eyes widened. "Pr… Produced?!"_

"_Yes. Professor Gast, head of the Jenova Project and genius scientist, produced me."_

"_How…" I stammered. "How did he…? Se… Sephiroth?"_

_He brushed past me and walked down the hall. "Out of my way. I'm going to see my mother."_

_Sephiroth's long strides carried him through the basement laboratory and into the main passageway before I could take more than a few steps, and by the time I entered the passageway myself a few moments later, he was already gone. I hurried down the corridor and raced up the spiraling wooden stairs, my heart pounding as fear raced through me like wildfire. The old oaken steps creaked underneath my boots, and it seemed to take forever to reach the top and step into the bedroom._

_When I did, I almost wished I hadn't._

_Sephiroth had already left, but when I returned to the sitting room, I found the soldier still in his chair where I had left him earlier. But he was dead. In his chest was a single narrow puncture wound, a slit surrounded by a small circle of blood. A chill swept through me as I understood what had happened. Sephiroth had done this. He must have caught the soldier completely by surprise, running him through in one swift stroke before he had even realized he was being attacked._

_On impulse, I walked around and checked the back of the chair. Sure enough, there was a slit in the wood behind the soldier's back. Sephiroth's katana must have gone all the way through until it hit the wall. The man had died instantly, no doubt. Then suddenly I thought of the town, of all the other people here, and my head shot up and I gasped in alarm at the thought of Sephiroth, enraged and completely out of his mind, embarking on a murderous rampage on his way back to the reactor._

_Whirling around, I sped into the upstairs hall and down the stairs at a dead run, hoping and praying I wasn't too late and that Sephiroth had ignored the town and everyone else and had gone on into the mountains without stopping. But the wickedly bright orange glow visible through the windows told me that he hadn't. Moving even faster now, I yanked open the front doors before suddenly skidding to a halt just a few steps outside, my eyes wide as they took in the hellish vision before me._

_Nibelheim was in flames._

_Fire was everywhere. Every building, every last home and shop, was burning. The roar of the inferno filled my ears, and huge, billowing gray plumes of smoke choked the air in every direction. Beads of sweat coated my skin as the immense heat reached me even though I still stood within the mansion's yard, dozens of feet from the edge of the blaze. But it paled in comparison to the searing firestorm of anger and fury quickly building up inside me as I gazed at what Sephiroth had done._

_Finally snapping out of my paralysis, I hurried past the gate and into the town and the midst of the devastation. Bodies lay scattered upon the ground like so many broken dolls, either burnt, slashed, or both. The old water tower had become a giant torch, and I coughed and put my arm in front of my face as the smoke swirled all around me. Then I heard a man calling out to me, a voice I recognized._

"_Hey!" It was Zangan. "It's you! You're still sane, right?"_

_I turned to my right and saw him standing there. His skin was bright red and he was covered with ash and bits of wood from all the doors and walls and fallen timbers he must have punched through to save whoever he could, but he seemed to be alright._

_I nodded in answer to Zangan's question. "Yeah. I'm fine."_

"_Then come over here and help me!" he ordered._

_With a short dash and a jump, I reached Zangan's side in a matter of seconds. "What do you need me to do?"_

_He pointed behind him and then past me. "I'll check this house. You check that one over there!"_

"_Got it!" I agreed._

_I hurried over to the house he had indicated, and then I was running again as I suddenly realized it was my own. On my way, I nearly tripped over the body of the other soldier, my friend. I bent over to check on him. He was unconscious, had probably passed out from all the smoke, but he was alive. There wasn't much I could do for him at the moment, though. I rushed inside the house, trying to avoid the fire as much as I could, and called out to my mom._

"_Mom! Are you there? Say something!"_

_But there was nothing. Half the main room was caved in, the ceiling having collapsed from the heat and the flames, and most everything else was already burning. At first I didn't see her, the smoke was so thick, and I nearly choked on it as it stung my eyes. But as I looked back at the pile of charred, broken beams and shattered slabs of what had once been part of the ceiling, I found her._

_She was lying beneath the rubble, all but buried aside from her head, shoulder, and one arm. Heedless of the pain, I grabbed onto the still-hot pieces of wreckage and strained to pull them off her, casting what I could aside as I desperately tried to free her. A thin line of blood trickled down the side of her face from her temple, and her eyes were closed. Although I knew the truth of it, knew she was gone, I couldn't bring myself to stop. I kept going, kept trying to dig her out until finally what remained was too large and heavy for me to move._

"_Mom…" I breathed, bowing my head for a minute._

_She was dead, and at that thought, the anger flared within me again and I snapped my head up, gritting my teeth and swearing to end this, to find Sephiroth and stop him no matter what it took. Reluctantly, I sighed and left the house, hating that I hadn't been able to save Mom, that there were so many others that had died as well. And all because of Sephiroth. I didn't want to believe what he'd done, but I couldn't deny what my own eyes were telling me, what I had seen and lost._

"_Terrible…" I shook my head. "Sephiroth… this is too terrible…"_

_Lying on the ground near what had once been the inn but was now a blazing furnace was the body of the photographer, his camera still held in one dead hand. He'd been slashed open, and his eyes stared sightlessly up at the smoky haze swirling around us. And then I thought of Tifa, and as I did, I felt my heart beat faster with worry for her and an overwhelming need to find her and keep her safe._

_Screams from behind me suddenly drew my attention, and I spun to face back the way I had come, back toward the mansion. In the field just outside of it, which was now burning as well, Sephiroth stood, his katana drawn and stained with blood, and cut down a pair of fleeing townsfolk with hardly a thought. Then he paused, standing within the flames, and looked at me, his gaze cold and cruel and utterly alien. The icy stare of a man who had descended into the most deadly kind of madness you could ever imagine. The man I had known was gone._

_I noticed then that, as with the rain other day, the fire didn't seem to touch Sephiroth at all. He seemed to repel it somehow, and no sweat was on his skin, no ash or dust. I was willing to bet that he didn't even feel the heat. He just stood there amidst the fires, his sanity gone and his glowing green eyes like shards of ice as they rose up to meet mine. For a long, slow moment, we just stared at each other, our gazes locked on one another. It was then that I knew I hated him. I hated what he had become, what he had done. And I would do whatever it took to stop him._

_Then Sephiroth simply turned and walked away, his back to me and his long strides carrying him through the blaze and onto the path leading into the mountains. At first, all I could do was watch him go, watch as he vanished within the swirling, hungry flames of the inferno, his long silver hair flowing out behind him as he moved. Then finally, I started moving as well, ignoring Zangan's urgent shouts to come back. Instead, I brought up my arms and charged right through the fire after Sephiroth, sprinting across the field and onto the trail, determined to catch up him no matter what and kill him. I knew I didn't stand a chance against him, but I had to try. I had to make him pay for what he'd done._

_I hurried into the mountains, jogging as quickly as I could but not so hard as to wear myself out, either. I didn't need to be out of breath when I finally caught up to Sephiroth. He stayed well ahead of me, and when I reached Mt. Nibel, I had to slow down to a walk in order to climb up the dark, barren slopes and through the twisting caves to the reactor. I saw a few monsters on the way, but I just avoided them, intent on getting to the reactor as soon as possible and stopping Sephiroth._

_Before I knew it, I was there. Within the core, on the platform at the far end of the main walkway, was Tifa. She was kneeling next to the body of her father, who lay lifelessly on his back near the doorway leading into the next chamber. Although the constant humming of the machinery and the hissing of steam was loud in my ears, I could still hear Tifa's words as she cried over her father's body._

"_Dad…" Tifa sobbed brokenly, tears streaming unchecked down both cheeks. "Did Sephiroth do this to you? Did he? Sephiroth… SOLDIER… mako reactors… Shinra… I hate them all!"_

_Before I could call out to her or even move from where I stood in the middle of the main walkway, Tifa grabbed Sephiroth's katana, which was lying on the floor next to her father's body, and charged straight through the doorway into the next room, her face a mask of grief, fury, and sheer focused determination. I knew she couldn't beat Sephiroth, just as I knew he must have left his katana behind on purpose. He had probably known she would come after him after he had killed her father and had dropped his weapon there as bait to goad her into doing just that._

_Snapping out of my temporary paralysis, I ran across the walkway to the platform, frantic now at the thought of Tifa going into a fight that she couldn't possibly win and furious with Sephiroth for toying with her and killing so many people. As I reached the platform, I carefully stepped past the slashed, tormented body of Tifa's father and ran through the doorway after Tifa, knowing what I would find in the next room and hoping that I wasn't too late to save her._

_At the top of the stairs with his back to us, Sephiroth stood before the door to Jenova's chamber, his arms stretched out wide. The door was still closed and locked, as it had been during our first visit, and off to the side, I could see the dead monster he had killed still laying sprawled in front of its open pod. Tifa was just ahead of me, but she didn't seem to know that I was behind her, as focused as she was on Sephiroth._

"_Mother," he said, "I'm here to see you. Please, open this door." _

_Tifa paused near the bottom of the stairs, Sephiroth's katana in both hands. I didn't need to see her face to know she was glaring daggers up at him. "How could you do that to Dad and all the townspeople!? You came to our town to help us! Not to rip away everything and everyone that we love! What kind of a monster are you!?"_

_She charged up the stairs, yelling at the top of her lungs and bringing the Masamune up to strike. But just as she reached Sephiroth and swung the blade at him, he spun around with a cruel, knowing smile on his face and seized the weapon by the hilt, halting its momentum. As I started up the stairs myself, I could only watch as Tifa fought to keep her grip on the Masamune before Sephiroth wrenched it away from her and slashed her right across the chest from shoulder to hip._

_I froze, staring in horror as Tifa tumbled down the stairs toward me, blood all over her body. At that moment, the door at the top opened, and as he started to turn away again, Sephiroth sneered at me, his pale green eyes meeting mine before he entered Jenova's chamber and was gone. Tifa landed just a step or two above me, and for a moment I forgot everything else as I raced over to her._

"_Tifa!?" I knelt by her side._

"_You promised…" she murmured. She was barely conscious, her eyes finding me for just a moment before they slid closed. "You promised that you'd come… when I was in trouble…"_

_As gently as I could, I picked her up, cradling her in my arms. Then I walked over and laid her down out of the way in front of one of the pods. Her skin was clammy and cold, and the blood was everywhere. I took her hand briefly, then carefully brushed a few strands of hair from her face. I didn't know what else to do for her. I didn't have any magic or potions on me, but I didn't want to lose her. I was going to, though. It looked like she was already dying. I slammed my fist into the floor, hating myself for my helplessness and Sephiroth for doing this to her._

_Rage swirling within me now, I rose to my feet and ran up the rest of the stairs. It was time to end this, to kill Sephiroth. Even if I died myself, I was going to at least take him with me. I didn't know how I was going to beat him, but at this point, I didn't care. I just knew that I had to try. For Tifa, Mom, and everyone else this madman had killed, and for my home, the place where I had been born and raised and which was now nothing more than a pile of ash and smoldering cinders._

_Inside the next room, I found Sephiroth. He was standing in front of the containment unit that held Jenova. A long, thick tube maybe a foot in diameter and filled with a murky, reddish fluid wound its way snakelike up to Jenova's holding tank. I couldn't see the thing itself, but in front of it and attached to the tank was an eerie figure of sculpted metal. It had no arms or legs, just a body, head, and a pair of large, outstretched wings to either side. Its female face had no expression at all, and its eyes were only a pair of empty sockets. The feeding tube was connected directly onto the waist of the statue and from there, to Jenova as well._

"_Mother," Sephiroth whispered, gazing at Jenova's tank and the dark angel protecting it. "Let's take this planet back together. I've had the most wonderful idea. We'll find the Promised Land."_

_I walked right up to him, my blood boiling. "Sephiroth… My family! My hometown! How could you do this to them?"_

_He laughed, still looking at Jenova and her silent guardian. "They've come again, Mother. But thanks to your superior power, knowledge, and magic, you were destined to become the ruler of this planet. They… those worthless creatures… are stealing the planet from you. But now I'm here with you, Mother, so don't worry."_

_Reaching up, Sephiroth grabbed onto the angel with both hands and ripped it off Jenova's holding tank. Sparks flews from the flattened cables that formed its hair and from its severed waist, and fluid leaked from the small tubes connected to its face as the wings broke apart. Sephiroth then tossed the whole thing aside and looked into the tank upon the true form of Jenova, and for a moment, so did I._

_It was humanoid, something like a woman but decidedly alien in its feel and the rest of its appearance. Her dark skin was a mottled purplish-blue, and her arms were folded behind her. A pair of short, reddish wings sprouted from behind her back, their ends ragged and irregular, and her light gray hair swirled lazily around her within the pale blue fluid filling the tank. The feeding tube connected directly to Jenova's abdomen amidst a number of other coiled pinkish organs that looked almost like intestines floating around her. The sight made my stomach turn._

_On her head and secured with four thick bolts was a metal device of some kind with a plaque that had her name embossed on it in large, bold letters as well as a few lines of a smaller type with what might have been dates of some kind, I wasn't sure. Jenova's dark lips were full and her eyes were open, one of them glowing with a bright, wicked pink light. As I saw that, I swallowed, wondering how aware she was of all that was going on around her and not really sure I wanted to find out. This thing, it was an Ancient? Somehow I couldn't quite believe it. But whatever it was, Shinra was keeping it alive. I thought I was beginning to understand Sephiroth's feelings a little, his pain, rage, and sense of betrayal after finding out that he was nothing more than a lab experiment. But it didn't excuse what he had done. Nothing could. And he had to answer for it._

"_What about my sadness!?" I argued. "My family… my friends? The pain and loss__of having them and my home__taken away from me!? It's the same as your sadness!"_

_Sephiroth laughed again, facing me as he stood before Jenova's tank, his arms out wide and the Masamune grasped in his hand. "My sadness? What do I have to be sad about? I am the chosen one. I have been chosen to be the leader of this planet. I'm going to take the planet back from you stupid people for the Cetra. What should I be sad about?"_

_I shook my head. "Sephiroth… I trusted you. I looked up to you. No, __you're not the Sephiroth I used to know!"_

_I drew Buster, ready to fight even if it was hopeless. My gloved hands gripped the hilt tightly as I gazed at my enemy. Sephiroth stood above me and held his katana in both hands, as prepared for the battle as I was. It was inevitable, and it was unavoidable. We gazed at each other, our eyes blazing with hate and fury, and prepared to attack._

* * *

"And that's the end of my story," I finished.

Barret gaped at me. "Wait a damn minute! That's it? No more?"

I sighed. "I don't remember."

"You _what?"_ he frowned. "That don't make a damn bit of sense! I'd sure as hell remember somethin' like that!"

I understood Barret's frustration, and I felt it myself. I had survived that encounter with Sephiroth, but I couldn't remember how or why. It didn't make any sense, as Barret had said. I only hoped that I'd find the answers during the course of our journey. I had the feeling that I would need them before the end of it. Jessica's words, what she had told me in the dream we had shared together, had implied that as well, although I hadn't realized the connection to Sephiroth until now. But if Jessie was right and there was more to me than I was aware of, I had to find out. I had to discover the truth, sooner or later.

"What happened to Sephiroth?" Aerith asked.

I found myself wondering the same thing. "I don't know, Aerith. In terms of skill, I couldn't have killed him."

Tifa looked at me. "Official records say Sephiroth is dead. I read it in the newspaper."

"Shinra owns all the newspapers," Aerith pointed out, "so you can't rely on that."

I stood up and folded my arms in front of me. "I want to know the truth. I want to find out what happened. I stood against Sephiroth and lived. Why didn't he kill me?"

"I'm alive, too," Tifa added, her eyes on me.

I thought of that horrible moment when Sephiroth had slashed her and she had fallen. It wasn't something I liked to remember. I was glad she had survived, and thinking about what had happened to her made me value her presence and her friendship more than I had before. Just for a moment, a long one, I held her gaze, and I knew she was thinking of those dark memories as well. We had both lived through the terrible nightmare that was Sephiroth's fury and the loss of our homes and our families, and after so many long years, we had found each other again. Wherever this journey took us, I promised myself that I would protect Tifa and keep her safe no matter what. I never wanted to come so close to losing her like that again.

Aerith shook her head. "A lot of this doesn't make any sense. What about Jenova? It was in the Shinra building, right?"

"Shinra must have shipped it from Nibelheim to Midgar sometime after Sephiroth went missing," I answered.

"Did someone carry it out later? It was gone when we escaped."

She was right. Jenova's holding tank on the 67th floor had been torn open. It had been hard to tell whether it had been done from the inside or from the outside, but either way, Jenova was gone. And at that same time, Sephiroth had returned. I doubted that was simply a coincidence, not with everything I knew about them.

"Sephiroth?" Tifa suggested.

Barret shook his head and stood up. "Damn! None of this makes a bit of sense! I'm goin', goin', goin', gone! An' I'm leavin' all the thinkin' to you! Yo, Cloud! Let's get a move on! Now that we're done here, we best get ready to set out tomorrow."

"Right," I agreed. "We should also ask around, see if anyone's heard or seen anything suspicious."

Barret nodded. "Yeah, good idea. Let's go!"

Without waiting for any of us to follow, he hurried across the room and stomped down the stairs, leaving me alone with Red and the girls. When he was gone, Tifa got up from her chair and walked over to me, her eyes locked on mine again. At first she didn't say anything, as if she were struggling to find the words or whether to say anything at all. But then she did, and when she finally spoke, her voice was quiet, almost a whisper as she stood so close to me, her fingers clasped loosely in front of her. "Cloud? How bad was I after Sephiroth stabbed me?"

I took her hands in mine, my eyes never leaving hers. "I thought I'd lost you, Tifa. I was devastated."

She smiled then. "I'm here now, Cloud. And I'm not leaving."

"Me either," I flashed her a small grin.

"I…" Aerith murmured, still sitting, her face pale. "The Ancients… the Cetra… Jenova… Sephiroth and myself…"

Tifa went to her at once and took her shoulders. "It's not your fault, Aerith. Don't think that."

"But it was because Shinra wanted to create people like us…"

"No!" Tifa's voice was firm, unyielding. "Don't go blaming yourself for what happened in Nibelheim. Whether Jenova and Sephiroth were Ancients or not, it doesn't matter. They're the ones responsible for that, them and Shinra. Not you. Understand?"

Aerith looked up at her and nodded. "Yes. Thank you, Tifa…"

Tifa smiled again as she helped Aerith to her feet. "Anytime. We're friends, right? You've been there for me, so I'm gonna be there for you, too. Now let's go. Barret's waiting for us."

I felt the same way as Tifa and was glad that she'd been able to help Aerith. Just because she was an Ancient didn't make her responsible for what Sephiroth and Jenova had done, and her unusual melancholy had bothered me more than a little. Fortunately, though, Tifa had explained things to her and had set her straight. Aerith seemed like she felt a little better now, and I was relieved to see that.

Red got up then and stretched his legs, and we headed to the stairs. He'd said barely a word the whole time, but as he padded along behind us, I heard him talking to himself, and apparently so did the girls. They both laughed when he spoke.

"What a fascinating story…" Red murmured.

We found Barret downstairs, tapping his foot as he waited for us by the front door. "Damn! 'Bout time you showed up. You ready now? We got a lotta work to do!"

"Yeah," I agreed. "We need to get supplies and look for leads about Sephiroth and which way he might have gone. I was also thinking that when we leave tomorrow, we should stay in two groups same as we did on the way here."

Tifa glanced at me. "That's a good idea, but I think we should have a way to keep in touch with each other, too."

"We can pick up a few cheap phones while we're out shopping. We ought to have enough gil for that and whatever else we'll need. I figure we should split up for now. Barret, Red, you two go and take care of the supplies. The girls and I will check around and see if we can find out if anyone's seen Sephiroth or knows where he went. We'll meet back here at about 6:00, get a bite to eat, and then we can figure out our next step from there. Any questions?"

No one had any, but when we started to leave, the innkeeper gave a discreet cough and we turned to him. "Sorry to interrupt, but I can see you're new here and there was something I thought you ought to know. If you're going to head over to the market district to do your shopping, you'd best keep an eye on your wallet."

"Why's that?" Barret growled. "You got a problem with thieves?"

"Well, just one, really," the man explained. "She's been operating in the area for a while now, but she's so quick nobody's been able to catch her. I don't think she's from around here, though."

I frowned. "Why do you say that?"

"People haven't seen much of her, but what glimpses they've gotten tell of almond eyes and short, straight black hair. Sounds Wutainese to me. I wonder what she's doing so far from home, though? She's young, or so I've heard. That's all I know, I'm afraid."

"Thanks for the tip," I replied. "We'll keep an eye out for her."

Stepping outside, we all stood together in a group for a moment as the afternoon sun shone brightly down on us from above the rooftops. With the dark and terrible story of Nibelheim behind us, it was time to prepare for our long journey. We all glanced at each other, then split up to get started on what we had to do. Barret and Red ambled off toward the market district while the girls and I spread out to talk to the people nearby and see what we could find out.

As I started to move, I suddenly looked back behind and above me as I thought I glimpsed something small and lean flitting across one of the rooftops. It was just a dark blur in the corner of my eye, and when I looked back at the place where I thought it had been, it was gone. But I was certain that I hadn't been imagining things. The shape, whoever or whatever it was, had seemed to be moving off in the same direction as Barret and Red, toward the market district. Was it that young thief, the one the innkeeper had told us about? I considered going after the guys but then decided against it. Barret and Red could handle her if they ran into her, I was sure of that. But I had no idea then just how skilled and troublesome she would prove to be.


	27. BOOK TWO: PURSUIT - FOUR

**BOOK TWO: PURSUIT**

* * *

**FOUR**

Kalm's market district was a busy place, with several rows of shops and stalls situated along a number of elevated streets along the far edge of town. I surmised, what with the wide variety of goods being offered, that Barret and I would easily be able to find everything we needed for our journey. I saw stores offering everything from weapons, protective gear, and materia to food, camping supplies, maps, and other goods we might find useful over the course of our travels.

"We do have enough money, I assume?" I asked.

Barret nodded. "Damn right we do. A few thousand gil, that ought to get us what we need for now."

"I would guess, however, that we'll eventually need to find a way to make more in order to cover the further expenses that our journey will no doubt incur as we continue traveling."

"Yeah, I guess you got a point," Barret admitted. "We'll figure it out later, though. Cloud'll wanna have a say in that."

That was, of course, quite true. "Indeed. Let's see what we can find, then we can come back with the others later to purchase what we can't carry with us right now."

"Awright, then. Let's get to it."

Crowds of people milled all around us as we made our way over to the shops. The market district was certainly a busy place, and at times I found that people passed quite close to us as they hurried on their way to the next sale or wherever it was they were going. There were times I simply didn't understand two-legged things, and although there were a few shops and such back home, it wasn't like this. It was much quieter, more orderly, than the chaotic rambling I saw here in Kalm.

We chose to begin with the general store, deciding to work first on procuring things like tents, potions, medical supplies, and food before looking elsewhere to purchase those phones Cloud had mentioned and possibly upgrade our weapons, armor, and materia. But just as we drew near to the shop's entrance, someone from the crowd suddenly brushed up against us. I had just enough time to glimpse a slender, dark-haired girl sliding in between Barret and I before she hurried away, almost out of sight now with her head held down.

"The hell's up with her?" Barret grumbled.

I shook my head. "I do not know. But perhaps… Wait! Remember what the innkeeper told us? About a thief?"

"Yeah, I do, now that you mention it. But what–?"

"Barret! Your wallet!" I exclaimed, my good eye widening.

He patted his pocket and swore. "Shit! It's gone!"

Not waiting for Barret to follow, I ran off in the direction I had last seen the girl, weaving my way swiftly through the crowd as I did so. At first, I couldn't find her, but then I caught sight of her farther down the street. She was fast, but as I was running on four legs rather than two, I was certain I could catch up to her. Or at least, so I had thought. But as Cloud had pointed out in his narration earlier, none of us knew yet just how skilled and cunning she really was.

The girl darted into a side street off to the right, and moments later I charged into it myself. There were far fewer people in here, which was most likely part of her plan. She glanced back over her shoulder, finally seeming to realize that I was pursuing her. But she did not appear to be the least bit concerned. Instead, she smirked at me.

"Hey, fuzzball!" she said. "Let's see ya keep up with me!"

The girl was indeed young, as the innkeeper had said. In her teens, so I imagined. She wore a sleeveless olive green top, white shorts, a pair of orange shoes with high socks, and a black headband. Her hair was as black as midnight and very short, hanging just below her ears, and her slanted brown eyes gleamed with mischief. Over her left thigh, the girl wore a brace of some kind, with some sort of netting covering her knee and calf, and more such netting covering her arms all the way up to the shoulder while soft leather gloves covered her hands.

The girl held up Barret's faded leather wallet in one hand. "I'll give this back to ya if you really want it that bad."

"Hand it over!" I demanded as I closed in on her.

She grinned impishly "Sure… but ya gotta catch me first!"

With that, she bolted away again, moving a great deal faster than I had expected her to. Before I could even come within fifty yards of her, she darted into a nearby alley on the left, her feet making practically no sound as she moved. I sprinted after her, growling low in my throat as I went. I was bound and determined to beat her challenge and raced into the alley, prepared to corner her and force her to return that which she had so callously stolen from us.

But when I got there, she was gone.

"Up here!" she called.

I looked up instantly and saw the girl standing atop the roof of one of the buildings lining the alley, her legs spread apart and her hands on her hips. How had she gotten up there? She was extremely clever, I had to give her that. The girl was grinning, and I realized then that she was enjoying this chase. And in an odd sort of way, so was I. It had become something of a competition between us.

I raised an eyebrow. "I suppose this is fun for you."

"Definitely! I was gettin' pretty bored what with all the easy marks around here. And then you guys came along. You know, I've never met a talking cat before. Maybe you'd like a big ball of string?"

"I am _not_ a cat," I snapped.

She laughed. "Nah, I guess not. Anyway, catch ya later!"

"We're not through yet, miss!" Now it was my turn to grin. I made sure to show off my sharp teeth as I did so.

I had noticed how close the alley walls were to each other and had formulated a plan while talking with the girl. Backing up a few steps, I flattened my ears and ran full out toward the wall below where the girl was standing. A dumpster was there, and I jumped on top of it, turned around, and leaped across the alley. When I reached the opposite wall, I used my momentum to bounce off of it and back to the other wall. As I returned to it, I quickly unsheathed my claws and dug them right into the painted plaster and siding. Then I swiftly climbed the wall, my eye fixed on the girl, who despite her words was still there.

"Hey, not bad!" she said. "But you'll still have to do better than that to catch a ninja! See ya!"

With that, she ran away across the roof. I was still a few yards from the top of the wall at that point, so I finished climbing as fast as I could and pulled myself over the top just in time to see her jumping across to the next rooftop. Retracting my claws, I ran after her and easily cleared the gap myself when I came to it. But she was still ahead of me, moving from one slanted roof to another, and so I followed.

I found that I couldn't gain any ground on her, but I didn't lose any, either. The girl really was quite fast for a two-legged thing. But even so, I was determined to catch her, now more than ever. And not simply to reclaim what she had stolen, either. It had become a matter of pride for me, strangely enough, and I did not want to lose to her, to be beaten at a chase by some young human cub with an attitude.

Racing across another rooftop, the young thief reached the edge of the building. There was a much larger gap ahead of her this time, one I knew she could not hope to clear, and I charged across the slanted blue shingles of the roof in an instant, certain I had at last caught my elusive quarry. But as I neared the girl, she glanced over her shoulder, waved at me, and simply dropped over the edge and out of sight. When I caught up to where she had been, I looked down and growled.

A wide ledge ran along the side of the building, which formed part of a large courtyard with a fountain splashing in the middle of it. A few of the town's taller buildings rose up like towers in the distance, and at each of their corners was a small spire that made them look almost like parts of a castle from a child's fairy tale. I tore my eyes away from them and saw that the girl was running along the ledge. It bent to the right as it reached the end of the building, and another ledge lined the building on the opposite side of the courtyard. From both of them, a set of stairs descended to the ground on either side of a wide arch.

Seeing that the girl was heading straight for the stairs, I grinned in anticipation. I had found what I needed. Bunching my muscles, I took a few steps back, ran toward the edge of the building, and jumped over the edge and all the way down into the courtyard itself. I spread out my paws when I landed to absorb the impact, then darted over to the base of the stairs. Just as I had anticipated, the young ninja thief came flying down the steps a moment later. The girl skidded to a rather abrupt halt a short distance from the bottom as soon as she saw me.

"Going somewhere?" I asked.

At first, she just stood there, unable to hide her surprise. But then a moment later, that cocky grin of hers reappeared. "So, you think you've finally cornered me, eh?"

"I believe I have, young lady," I answered.

"You're awfully sure of yourself," the girl snickered.

I nodded. "Indeed. You have nowhere left to run. Now return what you stole and I might not turn you in."

She winked at me and laughed. "I don't think so!"

Before I knew what was happening, the young thief ran right at me and jumped. She bounced off my back and did a forward somersault in midair. As I spun around, I saw her land on her feet and race across the courtyard to the other arch at the far end. Growling once again, both at her ingenuity and my own overconfidence, I sprinted after her and told myself not to underestimate her again. As the girl reached the arch, she looked back at me and grinned.

"Had enough yet?" she quipped.

I shook my head as I ran. "Not a chance!"

Now that we were on the ground again, a plan began to form in my mind. I did not believe that we were very far from the inn now, and if I could somehow push the girl into running in that direction, then I was certain that we would find Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith. I doubted they had gone very far while asking around about Sephiroth, and perhaps Barret would have returned to them by now as well. The girl couldn't possibly evade all of us. Could she? I did not know, but I had no other choice if I was to catch her and retrieve what she had stolen from us. As I passed through the arch and turned left to follow the girl, I took note of where I was and began herding her toward the inn.

* * *

"You're sure about this?" I asked.

The man nodded, shivering. "Yes, ma'am. Absolutely. I saw the guy you're talkin' about."

My heart hammered in my chest, and I didn't know whether to be enraged at the thought of Sephiroth or afraid. Maybe both. I still had a long, faint scar across my chest from where he had slashed me that day so many years ago. Hearing Cloud talk about it, along with everything else that had happened, had brought those dark memories to the front of my mind, and I hadn't quite been able to put them aside ever since. I wasn't really sure if I could. And there were other things about Cloud's story that bothered me. Things that didn't make sense. But I wasn't too sure. Or was I? I didn't know.

My own memories of those terrible days weren't entirely clear, but I remembered enough. And what I remembered concerned me. But if I said something to Cloud, if I told him what I knew, what would it do to him? What would happen? I recalled that when he had first come back into my life and reluctantly joined AVALANCHE, I had noticed that he hadn't seemed quite like himself, like the Cloud that I knew. There had been something strange about him, out of place, and it wasn't just from being in SOLDIER. And now, the story he had told us, it had added to my concerns rather than alleviating them. But telling him now was too much of a risk. So I decided to watch and wait.

Shaking off my thoughts, I returned my attention to the man I was talking with. "Where did you see him? When?"

"I live in one of the outlying farms nearby, and I was busy working outside, tending to my crops, when I glanced up and saw him strolling along through the fields. This was yesterday morning, and the sun had been shining pretty bright at the time, but when that guy walked on by, everything seemed to just get dark for a moment, like he was carryin' a storm cloud or somethin' with him, and everything got real still. Then, after he was gone, things got all bright and normal again like he'd never even been there. He's got this killer sword and looks _real _scary, so I'd be real careful if I were you."

"Thank you!" I replied. "Do you know which way he went?"

He nodded. "He was heading east, last I saw him. Probably toward the valley and the grasslands. Might be going to that big chocobo farm on the far side of the mountains. The mythril mine is off that way, too., but you've got to cross this huge swamp to reach it. No one's been there lately because of all the monsters infesting the place."

I thanked the man again and rushed out of the town square to find Cloud. He had gone into a nearby pub to ask around while I had come here and Aerith had stayed close to the inn and the town gates to glean information from whoever she could. It didn't take long for me to find Cloud. He was sitting casually at the bar, nursing a drink and listening to an older man maybe in his fifties as he talked to him about his work in the mythril mines. Cloud nodded now and then, and when I walked up to him, he looked at me and motioned to the empty stool on his left side. "Hey, Tif. Have a seat. You find out anything yet?"

"Yeah, I did," I answered, sliding onto the stool. "I just spoke with a guy in the town square. He saw him, Cloud."

Cloud froze, his eyes locked on me. "He did?"

"There's no doubt, Cloud. He's heading east, probably toward those mines. But why there?"

"I don't know," he answered. "but there's been trouble there lately. I doubt that's a coincidence."

I nodded. "I've heard about that, too."

Cloud went on. "I've been talking with Jarvis here, and he says that those monsters just started showing up there recently. They killed and drove out all the workers, and it's been shut down ever since. There are other mines, but the one that's southwest of the chocobo farm is easily the biggest in the region. It's pretty far from here, though. It'll take even Sephiroth a while to get there. Jarvis used to work in the place before it was shut down, then he moved back here with his son until it reopens. There's no telling when that'll be, though."

"Do you think there might be a connection between Sephiroth and the monsters?" I wondered.

Even as I was asking that question, Cloud shook his head. "I'm not sure. It seems more like it's Shinra's doing than his, especially in light of what I told you about the reactors. I don't doubt he'd take advantage of it if he could, though."

"I guess you're right," I agreed. "We'll just have to be careful."

"Yeah. Come on, Tif. Let's go find Aerith and see if she's found out anything else."

We both stood up, and after Cloud left some gil next to his glass to pay the tab, I followed him outside. We headed back in the direction of the inn, but we had only gone a few steps when we heard a shout from behind us and off to our left. We both turned to see Barret scowling as he ran toward us. "Guys! There ya are! Got us some trouble!"

"Where's Red?" I asked.

"Chasin' down that goddamn thief the innkeeper warned us 'bout," Barret explained. "Little runt swiped my wallet jus' as we was gonna go get some supplies. Red took off after her, an' I tried to keep up, but they both are jus' too damn fast. Knowin' him, he's probably followed her all across town by now. Not sure how to find 'em, though."

Cloud swore. "Damn! I saw her earlier, back at the inn, but figured it was just my imagination."

I glanced sharply at him. "Where was she?"

"On the rooftops across the street. She must have been watching us the whole time. I should have gone with you, Barret."

He snorted. "Hell, Cloud, how was you supposed to know?"

"Right," Cloud admitted. "Anyway, let's get moving, people. Aerith should still be near the inn and the city gates, so we'll find her first and fill her in on what's happened. Red knows we're supposed to meet over there, too, so he might try to nudge our thief back that way if he's been able to keep up with her so far."

"He ain't losin' her," Barret nodded. "Count on it."

He was right, of course. I knew that Red wouldn't stop until he had caught up to the thief and made her give back what she'd taken. I didn't think it would be easy, though. And he would need all the help that we could give him. So we hurried through the crowded streets back to the inn as quickly as we could, and as we went, I found myself hoping that it wouldn't take too long to find Aerith. As it turned out, she was just a short distance down the street from the _Silver Dragon_ and talking with a few people. When she saw us, Aerith excused herself and walked over to meet us, worry on her face.

"Guys! What's wrong? What happened to Red?"

I was just getting ready to answer when a slim, short-haired girl of about sixteen or so suddenly came pelting around the corner of one of the buildings, her dark, almond eyes widening when she saw us. Other people moved aside to get out of her way as she ran, and seconds later, Red bounded around the same corner the thief had just come from, his good eye narrow as he ran after her..

He called to us. "Cloud! It's her! Don't let her escape!"

Cloud glanced at the three of us, his eyes blazing. "You heard him! Spread out! Fence her in!"

Instantly, we scattered, each of us falling into position and forming a wide circle in the middle of the street as the girl sped right toward us. She saw exactly what we were doing and tried to turn around, but Red was right there behind her, keeping her moving ahead as he closed the circle. As the girl looked this way and that, the five of us moved in, and I knew we had her. By the time we were standing within a few yards of her, she sighed and dropped her head.

"Looks like you got me after all," the girl whimpered.

Cloud folded his arms in front of him and frowned at her. "You've got something that belongs to us."

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" she nodded.

"Hand it over," he ordered. "Now."

The girl slowly reached into the front pocket of her shorts. "I didn't think you'd catch me. You guys are really good."

"Just give us what you stole. There's no way out now."

"You think so?" she asked.

Red stiffened. "Cloud, be careful…"

I heard the alarm in his voice but wasn't sure why he was suddenly so agitated. Cloud certainly seemed wary enough. And he was right in what he had told the girl. She didn't have any way of escaping now that we had surrounded her. But even so, I couldn't help feeling like we had missed something. Red's warning sent my nerves on edge, and I found myself suddenly holding my breath and wondering just what was going to happen next. The young girl certainly looked defeated enough, with her shoulders slumped and her head hanging dejectedly, but I couldn't help feeling like Red was right, that we should still be cautious.

"I will, Red," Cloud answered him. Then he turned back to the girl. "I know so, miss. It's over."

She whipped her head up and grinned. "Guess again!"

Before any of us could stop her or even move, she yanked her hand out of her pocket, raised it high over her head, and smashed something small, round, and white onto the ground right in front of her. Instantly, clouds of gray smoke billowed all around us, and we all coughed on the fumes and tried not to choke. My lungs and eyes burned as I struggled to breathe, and I heard Barret swearing in between coughs. By the time the smoke finally cleared away just a few moments later, I knew exactly what we would see. But still, as I swept away the last of the fumes with one arm and looked in front of me, I felt my heart sink.

The girl was gone.

"Goddamn it!" Barret growled. "That little runt! I'm gonna tan her friggin' hide when I get a hold of her!"

"She will surely be difficult to catch," Red pointed out. "However, I share your sentiment, Barret."

Cloud bent close to the ground. "Hold on…"

"What is it?" I asked.

He pointed to where the girl had been standing. "You see that, Tif? She got away with that smoke bomb of hers, but she left us something, too. Check it out."

I gasped. "Barret's wallet!"

I could hardly believe it. But it was there, lying on the cobblestones where we had cornered the girl. We hadn't caught her, but she had still left us what she owed us even though she could have easily kept it with her instead. And as I realized that, I thought that maybe she might not have been such a bad person after all.

Barret picked it up and checked it. "Looks like it's all here. Girl ain't as bad as I—wait, I'm a hundred short! Damn!"

"What?" I blinked.

Cloud sighed. "Well, considering that she could have just taken the whole thing, I'd say you got off lucky, Barret."

"Yeah, I suppose so, Spike."

Red looked at him. "She seemed to be more interested in the chase and the excitement than in the money, from what I saw of her. And the fact that she left almost all of it when she didn't have to would seem to support that observation."

"Do you think we'll see her again?" Aerith wondered.

Cloud nodded. "I've got a feeling we will. Something tells me we'll be running into her again sooner or later."

"Some of the people I talked to, they mentioned her. They say she's stolen only from people with a lot of money. Not families or the poor. I also heard she's fond of materia and that she's hit several shops that sell it. So if we get some new materia…"

"We can use it as bait!" I finished.

Cloud grinned. "Good thinking, ladies. We'll go pick some up and make sure anyone can see it on our gear. And as soon as that girl finds out what we've got, she's bound to come looking for us."

"Whoa, wait a minute!" Barret argued. "All this over a hundred gil? Sure, I don't like bein' shorted like that, but still…"

"I understand, Barret. But it's not about that, not really. You've seen how fast she is. And she was able to outrun Red all across town. That's not an easy thing to do."

Red laughed. "Thank you, Cloud."

"It's the truth," he replied. "On four legs, you're faster than any one of us. That she stayed ahead of you for so long says a lot about her and her abilities. She also had to have been able to think fast and improvise in order to do that."

"Indeed," Red agreed. "She is quite skilled, I must admit."

I frowned. "What are you getting at, Cloud?"

"We've got a long, dangerous journey ahead of us," he said. "And I think we'll need all the help we can get. She could be useful to us, and I bet she's pretty good in a fight, too."

Barret stared at him as if he'd gone insane. "Say _what!?"_

"If and when we run into that girl again, I'm gonna see if she wants to come with us."

"You sure about that, Cloud?" Barret asked.

Cloud nodded. "I don't trust her any more than you do. Not yet, at least. But wouldn't you rather have her right where we can see her than out there somewhere?"

"I guess you got a point. Can't say as I like it much, though."

As for me, I wasn't entirely sure what to think. Although I believed Cloud and trusted him, I was still worried and could understand what Barret was saying, too. And there was something else I wondered. Even if we did find her again and Cloud asked her to join us, she might turn him down. She might say no. What then? Would he force the issue? Or would he let her go? I wasn't sure which I wanted.

"Cloud," I said. "What if she says no?"

He looked at me. "That's a good question, Tif. I don't know. I guess we'll find out when we come to it."

I smiled. "Fair enough. So what now?"

"Let's all head back over to the market district and get our supplies and materia," Cloud decided. "Then we'll grab some dinner and return to the inn. We'll leave town early in the morning."

As we started walking, Aerith spoke, her voice low. "Cloud, there's something else. I also found out that there were a few murders in town last night. Three people, out on the streets. Cut down, from what I was told, and just left there for anyone to find."

"Does anyone know who did it?" I asked. I had my suspicions, and I shivered at the thought.

She shook her head. "Not for certain, no. But witnesses saw a man in a black cloak leaving the scene just minutes later."

"Sephiroth," Cloud grimaced.

"But why?" I wondered. "If he was here, why didn't he just destroy everything like he did in Nibelheim?"

Cloud sighed. "I don't know."

"You think he wants us to follow him?" Aerith said.

"Whether he does or not, it doesn't make any difference. I'm going after him no matter what."

I wasn't the least bit surprised, and hearing the resolve in his voice made my own feelings about it stronger as well. Wherever Cloud went, I would go, too. Even if it was just us and everyone else was gone. I had no doubt about it. I cared about Cloud too much to ever do otherwise, even if I didn't know yet how to tell him.

The rest of the night was fortunately uneventful, and we were able to buy all the supplies and equipment we needed. Red picked up a new mythril clip for his feathered headdress, and it had a couple more slots for materia than his old one. And speaking of materia, we bought a few new ones, such as Earth and Heal, and made sure we fit them onto our gear right away. There was no way to know when we'd run into that girl again, so we were going to be ready for her.

I hoped that she would take the bait, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Cloud might have been right about her after all. And I was curious to find out more about her and what had driven her to steal from people. Why was she so far away from her homeland? She had definitely been from Wutai, there was no question. Her round face, almond eyes, and straight black hair had shown that clear as day. I found myself anticipating our next encounter with her. And I was quite sure there _would_ be a next encounter.

Only this time, we would be ready for her.


	28. BOOK TWO: PURSUIT - FIVE

**BOOK TWO: PURSUIT**

* * *

**FIVE**

We left Kalm the next morning about an hour or so after dawn. As on our journey there, we split up again, deciding that it would be safer that way and make it that much harder for Shinra to catch up to us. We had heard, from talking with more of the townsfolk while preparing to leave, that Shinra was blaming us for the president's death and those of the others who had been killed when Jenova had escaped. I wasn't at all surprised, though. Neither were Tifa and the others.

After a quiet breakfast in the upstairs common room of the inn, we slipped quietly out through the city gates, setting out on foot to further complicate Shinra's efforts to find us. We followed the main highway as it curved gently southeast through the grasslands and nearby farms but didn't actually stay on it. We split up shortly after leaving Kalm, Barret and Tifa staying south of the road while Aerith, Red, and I kept just to the north of it. Cars and trucks drove on by in the distance as we went on with the road just at the very edge of sight as a long gray ribbon on the horizon. As we walked, we kept in touch with Tifa and Barret using the new phones we'd bought in Kalm. They were cheap burners we had paid for with cash, but they worked and were harder to track.

The sun rose ahead of us as we went on, rising higher in the sky as the hours passed. We didn't speak all that much, each of us wrapped in our own thoughts. Aerith and I wore packs on our backs in addition to our weapons, and we walked side by side through the knee-high grass, a soft breeze gently cooling our cheeks as Red padded a short distance ahead of us. Not a bad beginning for a quest, really.

As we made our way east, we encountered a few scattered packs of Kalm Fangs, vicious wolflike creatures that often preyed upon the local livestock and unwary travelers. We didn't have much of a problem with them, though, and I'd heard in town that people in the region paid well for their pelts. So since we needed the money for our journey, we spent some time after the battles preparing the hides before stowing them in our packs. Aerith made quite sure to tease me about the smell, and Red did his best to stay downwind of us after we started collecting the pelts. I didn't blame him, though. They did stink, after all. When we stopped for lunch, I called Tifa and told her about it.

She laughed. "I'm so glad I went with Barret, then!"

"You can come with me tomorrow, Tif," I replied, grinning slightly even though I knew she couldn't see it. "I know you want to."

"Sure, as long as I can stay a good distance away," she teased.

Now it was my turn to laugh. "Not a chance. I was gonna have you carry them for me."

"Nice try, Cloud," Tifa chuckled. "But I think that's _your _job. You're our leader, after all."

"Remind me to thank Aerith for that little promotion," I said.

Nearby, Aerith looked up from where she was relaxing in the little grassy meadow we had chosen for our break and grinned knowingly at me, having heard every single word that I'd said. I just smirked back at her and shook my head helplessly. I didn't really mind the girls' teasing, though. It was good to lighten things up a bit after reliving the horrors of Nibelheim yesterday afternoon. And I was sure Aerith knew it every bit as well as I did, and so did Tifa.

Her snarky reply was immediate. "Oh, I don't think I need to."

"Tell me about it," I agreed. "Anyway, we'll see you tonight, Tifa. Be careful out there."

"You too, Cloud. Take care."

After I hung up and put my phone away, Aerith scooted over next to me, her emerald eyes twinkling. "You're welcome, Cloud."

"Thanks," I grinned.

She leaned back, her arms a little behind her and her hands flat on the ground. "Anytime. I know you like it."

"Can't get enough of it," I quipped.

"I'll bet!" Aerith snickered. "Anyway, it really is a nice day."

I nodded. "Yeah. We're making pretty good time. We should reach the Chocobo Farm in about five days or so at this rate. Maybe a week if the weather turns bad."

"Do you think it will?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. It's not supposed to, not for a few days at least, from what they said on the news last night. But I think we might see some rain by the time we get to the marshes."

Aerith nodded. "Any idea how we'll cross them?"

"I'm not sure yet. I heard yesterday that the roads down there have been abandoned ever since the monsters showed up in the mines. And the ground isn't likely to be very good for walking, either."

"What about chocobos?" she suggested. "We're heading to that big farm anyway, right?"

That was actually a pretty good idea. "Yeah, that might work. We'll ask about it when we get there."

"I've never ridden one before. It'll be fun!"

"I guess," I said. "We're not on this journey to have fun, though."

Aerith smiled. "I know that, Cloud. But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the moments we have. I think it's important to do that. Even little things, like the afternoon breeze or a chocobo ride. The fresh air, being outside with each other. Things we'll all look back on someday and talk about. All the wonderful memories we can share."

She did have a point, I had to admit. It was hard for me to see that far ahead, though. I had no idea where I would end up after this was all over. It didn't really matter though, as long as Aerith was with me. And the others too, of course. But Aerith most of all. I didn't know why, not really. Only that I enjoyed her company and her friendship. Her humor and her insights. Her warmth and kindness. I looked at her, nodding in agreement with what she had said.

"You're right, Aerith. It's just… what if we don't all make it?"

She put her hand over mine. "There's always that possibility. But it just means we should treasure our time with each other even more. No matter what happens. And hold tight to the memories we have. So if… one of us is missing at the end of all this… we'll never forget. And we'll be there for each other, no matter what."

I sighed but didn't say anything, not at first. Images filled my mind, memories of Jessie and the little bit of time that we'd been able to spend together. It didn't hurt quite as much as before, but… I still missed her. Even today, I still think of Jess every now and then. It never goes away, not completely, when you lose someone like that. Not ever.

Aerith gazed at me. "Thinking about her again?"

"Yeah," I answered. "A bit…"

"It gets easier over time, Cloud. I've gone through it myself. I know how it feels, believe me."

I looked at her. "Your mom? Must've been hard."

Aerith leaned against me. "Yeah, it was. I still miss her. But she isn't the only one that I've lost."

"Oh? Who else? No, sorry. I shouldn't have asked…"

"It's okay," she patted my shoulder. "And it doesn't matter."

I frowned, puzzled. "You sure?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about it, Cloud. Anyway, we should get moving soon. We've got a lot of miles to go before dark. And Barret'll never let us hear the end of it if we're late."

"Right," I agreed. "We'd better pack up and head out."

Aerith didn't move right away, though. "In a minute. I just want to sit here a little longer."

I didn't mind. It was nice, having her near me. I slid an arm around Aerith, and she snuggled a little closer as we watched the clouds sliding across the blue sky far overhead. I found myself thinking then of how I had held Jess inside the Sector 4 plate. But again, it didn't hurt so much as it had before. And then it faded away as I felt Aerith lay her head on my shoulder. All that was in my mind then was her, and before I finally let go of her and stood up, I closed my eyes for a moment and swore to myself that I wouldn't lose her as I had Jess.

"Time to go," I said, helping Aerith to her feet.

She brushed herself off as she stood up. "Yeah, you're right. And… thank you. For sitting with me."

I gave her a small smile. "It was fun."

Her answering grin stretched nearly all the way to her ears. "It was, wasn't it, Cloud?"

I found my eyes lingering on Aerith as she walked away to pick up her things. With an effort, I pulled my gaze away from her and started to gather the rest of our gear while Red yawned, got up from where he had been laying on the other side of the meadow, and slowly stretched his legs. We had taken about an hour for lunch and rest, but now it was time for us to move on. It was midafternoon as we finally set out again, and we still had a long way to go before dark.

* * *

The sun was sliding beneath the western horizon, back the way we had come, when I caught sight of Cloud and the others walking toward us through the rolling fields of tall grass. It was dusk, the early evening sky a wonderful collage of blue and pink and orange. I had missed this sort of thing during my years in Midgar with Barret and the rest. There were times now and then that I had gone to the outer wall of the slums just to catch a glimpse of the sky. And it was in those moments, sitting on an old bench or on a small pile of junk and gazing out at the endless blue, that I had missed Cloud the most.

But he was back in my life again, and I waved at him as he, Aerith, and Red approached the little dell that Barret and I had picked for our campsite tonight. The five of us had agreed that it would be safer for us to stay away from towns and settlements as much as possible for now. I didn't know how long Shinra would be searching for us, but we weren't going to take any chances. There were many smaller towns and villages from here to the Chocobo Farm and lots of homes and farms scattered all along the way. Although news probably spread more slowly out here than back in Midgar or Kalm, we had still thought it best that we camp outside rather than find an inn to stay at every night. So as twilight had approached, Cloud and I had coordinated things over the phone so we would know where to stop for the day and when.

We already had a nice little fire going, the flickering orange glow of the flames bright and cheerful in the gathering gloom. I turned back to it, checking on the food cooking in a few pots and pans sitting out on a rack over the fire. The dell we were in was settled in between two small hills a few miles south of the main highway, and a small stream flowed nearby through a loose cluster of trees and shrub while in the distance to the east rose a long, dark line of jagged mountains.

Somewhere off in the brush, crickets were chirping, and the stream was babbling not so far away. It really was a peaceful place, and I found I could almost forget why were out here. I knew that not all our nights would be like this, but I thought it was nice that the end of our first day on the road was so pleasant.

"Hi, Tifa!" Aerith smiled, then inhaled deeply as she bent over one of the pans. "Smells good! Need a hand?"

I grinned. "Sure. Stir this for me, would you?"

While she and I worked on dinner, Aerith minding the pot while I tended to the meat, Cloud, Barret, and Red put up the tents. One for us and one for the boys. I wasn't sure what Red could do to help, but there he was, carefully holding down the corners of the canvas with his paws so that Cloud could pound the spikes into the ground. It didn't take all that long, and as they were finishing up, I had Aerith hand me the long wooden spoon she'd been stirring the pot with and took a brief taste. A bit more seasoning, I thought.

It might have been fine just as it was, but I had never cared to settle for good enough as far as my cooking was concerned. It was more than a hobby for me. It was a passion, and it all had to be as good as I could possibly make it. Making sure each flavor came out just right was a bit of a challenge for me, but I always enjoyed it. So had Wedge, of course. He had always been eager to taste test for me. He'd actually been pretty good at it, too. I missed that, and him. I sighed, knowing it wouldn't be quite the same without him.

But just as I was thinking that, Aerith smiled and had a taste of her own. "It's really good. But a little more oregano, I think."

I laughed. "I had the same thought, Aerith. Do you cook?"

"A little. I used to help Mom in the kitchen sometimes. But I know I don't hold a candle to you, Tifa. I've heard how good you are—Cloud told me about it on the way here—and I can tell he wasn't exaggerating. This really is delicious!"

"Thanks," I replied. "It's an old recipe of mine."

She handed me the oregano, and after a moment's thought, I added just a pinch more into the pot. You always have to be careful with how much of a seasoning you use. Too little and you can barely taste it. Too much and it'll overwhelm the rest of the dish. It's a balancing act, and it takes a lot of time and practice to get it right. After Aerith stirred in the extra pinch of oregano, we both took another taste and grinned at each other. Perfect! And we both knew it.

Sitting around the campfire, we all ate and talked, planning for the next day and reflecting about this one. Cloud didn't say much, but then again, he had never been a talkative person to begin with. I was used to it though, so I didn't mind. He sat in between me and Aerith, listening more than talking. But he complimented me on the food, and when he did that, I couldn't help beaming a little.

After dinner, we cleaned up the dishes and put everything away. It didn't take very long, especially with the boys helping out. Then we sat back down around the fire and just relaxed for a while, the glow of the flames reflected on our faces and in our eyes. Barret had gathered up a few long sticks earlier, and soon enough he passed them around along with a bag of marshmallows.

Red looked on in amusement and then took a stick in his teeth and held it steady so Barret could put one of the puffy white confections on the end. Once that was done, Red turned his head a little until the stick hung out over the fire along with ours. I smiled, amused and impressed by his ingenuity as Aerith giggled at the sight. She was on my left, past Cloud, who like before sat in between us. Barret loomed on my right, a big shadow in the dark, and Red was across from me.

When his marshmallow was a nice shade of brown, he turned back to Barret, who pulled it off the stick and casually tossed it over to him. Red let go of the narrow branch and snatched the treat out of the air in one quick, fluid motion. He wolfed it down in just a few bites, then sat back on his haunches. "Not bad. It's been long since I have sat by a fire like this. Not since I left home."

"How long were you in that lab?" I wondered.

"Many years," he answered. "But I do not know exactly. It was hard to measure the passing of time in there."

I gazed across the fire at him, understanding what he meant. "Well, I'm glad you're with us now."

"As am I, Tifa. It is good to be free again."

"What's your home like, Red?" Aerith wondered.

He smiled fondly. "It is a beautiful place. A desert canyon, very far from here. Everything is built into the rock itself—homes, shops, all of it. Many people live there. They come from all over."

While Aerith and Red continued to chat, I noticed that Barret had finished his own marshmallow and had put down his stick. In his hand now was an old photo, one I recognized at once and which sent a wave of sadness through my heart. It was of Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie, posing together and smiling in front of the _Seventh Heaven._

"I remember when you took that picture," I said, leaning closer. "It wasn't long after Jessie joined us."

Barret nodded. "Yeah. Kept it on me ever since. Jacket pocket. You can call me soft or sentimental if you want, Tif. I jus' always needed to have 'em near me. I ain't ready to say why yet. But I've lost a lot to them damn Shinra, even before I came to Midgar. Now this is all I got left of my team, my pals. We was like family. You know that, Tif. And you was part of it as well. Still hard to believe they're gone."

I blinked away sudden tears. "I know, Barret. I miss them, too."

Although talking with Aerith and the others about them yesterday morning had helped, I knew that it would still take time for the pain to really heal. But at least none of us was alone. We all had each other and were there for one another. I laid a hand upon Barret's shoulder and he smiled gratefully. Then I saw that Cloud had drawn near to us, his eyes locked on the photo. I knew he was thinking of them, of her, and as his own eyes slid closed for a moment and his head bowed ever so slightly, I reached out my other hand and took his. At my touch, he opened his eyes again and nodded. Then he looked at Barret.

"Frame it," he said. "When this is all over."

Barret slipped it back into his jacket. "I will, Cloud. Jus' as soon as we kick Sephiroth's ass and find us a new home. Then it's goin' right up on the wall. Thanks, man."

"They were my friends, too. I'm not gonna forget them."

"None of us will, that's for damn sure," Barret agreed. "An' now that I think 'bout it, there's somethin' else. Somethin' Jess wanted the two of you to know. She never got to tell you herself, 'bout her background an' where she came from an' who she really was, but she told me everythin' jus' before we went to the pillar."

Cloud didn't look surprised. "Just before she died, Jess told me that Heidegger was her father."

I glanced sharply at him, unable to hide my own shock. I knew she had never said much about her past but had never blamed her for it. In the slums, it wasn't something you asked about very much. Although I had always wondered about it, I had never pressed her for any details. I had known that Jess would tell us when she felt she was ready. But now she was gone forever, and I listened closely as Barret laid it all out, how Jessie had worked for Shinra for years before fleeing down to the slums and eventually finding us. And I found it didn't change how I felt about her. Not at all. Jess was still my friend, like a sister, and after hearing all that she had gone through, I missed her even more.

Cloud took something out his pocket then, just for a moment, and I realized it was one of Jessie's round, homemade bombs. "While I was with her in the pillar, Jess gave this to me."

"What for?" I asked, though I had an idea.

He went on. "Sooner or later, we'll have to fight Heidegger. That's a given. Jess wanted me to use this when we do, and I intend to. It's from her, and he's gonna know that before he dies."

His voice was laced with steel as he finished speaking, and I didn't blame him. All I had to do was close my eyes to see the Shinra chopper shooting Jess down before she blew herself up to save us, Wedge firing his gun and charging at the soldiers before they overwhelmed him and left him lifeless on the ground, and Biggs filled with bullets as he lay on the landing, slumped and dead. I could see the upper plate crushing all that was underneath it, so many people, as it collapsed upon what had once been our home. I looked up and saw my rage reflected in Barret's eyes as well as Cloud's. Aerith and Red said nothing, but they had been listening to Barret's tale. They had their own reasons for hating Shinra and understood well enough what we were feeling.

The five of us talked for a while longer, moving on to other things, and eventually we decided to go inside our tents to sleep. Red, though, chose to stay outside instead, curling up a little closer to the fire. Aerith lightly patted his nose and hugged him goodnight before following me into our tent. We whispered together for bit, laying comfortably within our sleeping bags, before finally drifting off.

* * *

We set out not long after daybreak, splitting up again as before, but this time we switched up. Tifa went with me and Aerith while Red and Barret traveled together. The mountains grew steadily closer and larger ahead of us both to our right and our left as we continued heading east toward a wide valley, and the ground became less flat and instead rose and fell in a long swath of rolling hills as we made our way closer to the two lines of peaks and the gap in between them.

The next few days passed much the same as the first. We moved by day and rested at night, meeting up somewhere outside to camp by the time dusk crept across the sky. When we would set out in the morning, we continued to stay in two groups, one north of the highway and one south of it. Aerith always stayed with me, as I wanted to keep her close. I was still her bodyguard, after all, and although I knew that the others would protect her without hesitation, I just didn't want to be separated from her. Not after what had happened to Jess.

The others took turns in the third spot, rotating every day. We ran across a few groups of monsters as we traveled, but nothing we couldn't handle. A few more Kalm Fangs, some Mandragoras—plantlike things with an ear-splitting shriek—along with a Levrikon or two. Those were large creatures like giant birds with black feathers, long necks, and two short, clawed arms instead of wings. They had a tendency to peck at us with their beaks but still weren't much trouble.

After the battles, we always took what we could from the bodies to sell later. Pelts, feathers, claws, leaves—whatever we knew people in the nearby towns and villages would buy. And sometimes we stopped into one of those places, sold all we'd collected, and restocked our food and supplies. People crafted all kinds of things out of monster parts, which was why they were in such demand. And simply clearing out the beasts also paid well on top of that. So money wasn't much of a problem as we entered the valley and continued onward.

Whenever we made those trips into town, we also paid attention to what people were talking about. There had been a few sightings of who we were looking for, the man in the black cloak, and sometimes he left a few more bodies behind as he had in Kalm and Midgar. So it seemed we were still on his trail. He was still heading east, according to the talk and rumors that were floating around. I was determined to catch up to him and settle things, to make him answer for all that he'd done. Anger simmered within me whenever we spoke of him, of Sephiroth, or when we listened to the townsfolk talking about the death he had left behind in his wake and where he had gone.

We also heard about our elusive ninja thief. Apparently she had left Kalm just before we did and had been heading east the same as us. She had hit a few small settlements here and there, from what we had been able to find out, but had left pretty quickly each time, never seeming to stay in one place for very long. She didn't seem to have had very much of a head start, and I wondered when we would run into her again. She was skilled and cunning, I couldn't deny that, and I was sure we would cross paths again sooner or later.

About five days out from Kalm, the clouds darkened as rain began to fall. At first it was just a drizzle, and we kept going, shrugging on the coats we'd gotten for weather like this. But as the day wore on, the rain poured faster, and we had to meet up in one of the nearby villages and wait out the worst of it. Once the rain had finally slackened enough, we left and moved on. We weren't far from the Chocobo Farm now, and at the rate we were going, we would reach it tomorrow.

The rain kept falling all through the night, along with a few distant rumbles of thunder, so our camp that evening was a cold and cheerless one. We went to sleep early, our tents pitched near a winding stream at the bottom of a low hill on the grassy plains beyond the wide valley we had passed through. The drops pattered endlessly on the canvas as I lay there and tried to rest, but by dawn, the rain finally stopped, and we set out again across the wet ground. The sun rose high in the air, the skies cleared, and as the hours went by, the ground and the tall waves of rich green grass dried out. We took off our raincoats and put them away as the day's warmth filled us, and it was just a little past noon when we at last caught sight of our destination.

Surrounded by neatly trimmed fields full of what could only be the various leafy vegetables that chocobos loved, the appropriately-named Chocobo Farm was a large, clean collection of buildings with sparkling white walls and several paddocks. A modest two-story home stood off to the left, and near it was a long, low building presumably housing the stables. Past that rose a tall silo, and though we were still some distance away, I could still make out the unmistakable yellow forms of chocobos wandering around inside the paddocks, their broad feathers bright and cheerful in the afternoon sun.

As we approached the Chocobo Farm, walking down the wide dirt road leading to it, Tifa and Aerith both grinned before dashing over to the fence to get a better look at the birds. I wasn't surprised, and Barret just laughed and shook his head while Red looked on. They had joined us not long ago, meeting us outside a village a few miles south of here. We had thought it best to enter the farm together, and as we caught up to Aerith and Tifa, I could hear them chatting together and giggling as one of the chocobos walked up to them. Blinking its large eyes, it gazed back at the girls and warbled softly.

"Oh, aren't they just _adorable,_ Cloud?" Aerith gushed.

I shrugged. "I suppose. I could do without the smell, though."

Tifa sniffed as she cooed lovingly at the bird. "It's hardly their fault, you know. Don't be so hard on them. They can't help it."

"Yeah!" Aerith added. "They're just so cute you can't hold anything against them. Right, Tifa?"

"Right!" she chuckled.

It was good to see the girls happy, so I let it go for now. "We should head inside and talk to the owner, see if we can't get a few answers and find out if Sephiroth's been here."

Aerith leaned against the fence alongside Tifa. "You guys go ahead. We'll stay out here with the chocobos."

I nodded, not the least bit surprised. And there was no way I could possibly say no to her, not with how she smiled at me, her emerald eyes bright and twinkling with more warmth than the afternoon sun, before turning back to gaze fondly at the big yellow birds in the paddock. She reached out a hand to the one nearest her, the one that had approached her and Tifa earlier, and stroked the soft feathers. After a moment, Tifa did the same, and I watched them for a moment before finally moving away and walking up to the house with Barret and Red. The first stage of our journey was over, but the next part wasn't going to be as easy or as pleasant as this one had been.


	29. BOOK TWO: PURSUIT - SIX

**BOOK TWO: PURSUIT**

* * *

**SIX**

"Well, hello there," an older man maybe in his late fifties greeted us at the front door of the large farmhouse as he swung it open. "Looking to cross the marshes?"

I nodded. "Possibly. Can we come in?"

"By all means," he smiled, adjusting his glasses.

We followed him inside, my boots and Barret's clomping across the hardwood floor while Red's paws hardly made a sound. Ahead of us in a small kitchen was a plain wooden table covered in a white cloth with several chairs around it. A large, round black serving dish with several bright red apples in it sat in the middle. The walls inside were as white as on the outside except for on the left, which was almost entirely built out of red bricks and held the sink, stove, and oven.

The farmer motioned for us to sit down. "The name's William, but everyone in these parts just calls me Choco Bill. Not hard to guess why. Anyway, if you're wanting to go south, it'll probably be safer for you to ride a chocobo. The marshes are more dangerous than ever these days, and a lot of people who go there don't come out again."

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

Bill scratched his gray, bushy beard. "A lot of strange monsters live there, not to mention that finding solid ground isn't always easy in that place. One wrong step and it's bound to be your last. But if you ride on a chocobo, you'll be fine."

Barret frowned. "An' how are they safer?"

"They've got very sharp senses and know the paths to take to reach other side," Bill explained. "Plus they're faster than any of the monsters. You can just zip right through the marshes in no time. It's also the only way to avoid being attacked by the Midgar Zolom."

"Midgar Zolom?" I echoed, not liking the sound of it.

Bill shuddered. "It's a huge serpent-like creature over 30 feet tall! It can hear the footsteps of anyone in the marshes. You might not see it at first, but sooner or later, it'll find you. And then—BAM! It attacks! It's fast, but you can avoid it by riding a chocobo."

I wasn't sure I completely believed Choco Bill's talk of a monstrous snake lurking in the swamps, and from Barret's skeptical expression, he didn't either. But there was no sense in taking any chances. Red seemed as uncertain as we did, sitting nearby as he listened to it all, and I didn't know whether to accept what Bill had said or dismiss it as a sales pitch. And there were other things I needed to know first.

"Has anyone else tried to cross the marshes lately?" I asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Bill said. "Two people that I know of. The first was a man in a black cloak. I heard he just walked into the swamp yesterday. But without a chocobo, the Midgar Zolom probably got him. And the second was a dark-haired girl, must've been a teenager. About the same age as my granddaughter. She bought herself a chocobo early this morning and rode south, probably into the marshes as well. If you hurry, you might even catch up to her."

It was decided then. "Thanks. What do we need to do?"

"To purchase a chocobo, please talk to my grandson, Billy. You can find him in the chocobo stables at the end of the farm."

"We'll do that," I nodded. "Thanks."

Taking our leave of Choco Bill, we got up and headed outside. Tifa and Aerith were still over by the fence watching the chocobos, and as I walked with Barret and Red toward the stables, I waved to the girls and motioned for them to join us. They did, and a moment or two later, we all stepped inside the long white building behind the paddock, the sun shining above us in a clear blue sky.

Rows of stalls lined either side of a wide aisle, some empty and one or two with a chocobo rustling about inside. The place smelled like hay and straw and greens as well as the unmistakable odor of chocobo. Not pleasant, but far better than the acrid mako stench of Midgar, and a lot more tolerable. Early afternoon sunlight shone through a pair of small windows at the far end of the stables as two teenagers, a boy and a girl, busied themselves caring for the huge birds.

The boy noticed us first. "Howdy! What can I do for you?"

"We're interested in buying some chocobos," I said. "Think you can set us up with two?"

He stuck his hands in the pockets of his green shorts and shook his head. "Sorry. You old folks are out of luck!"

"Old folks…?" I raised an eyebrow as Aerith stifled a giggle.

Billy nodded, the bright yellow feather stuck in his wide-brimmed hat bobbing with the motion. "Unfortunately, we're all out of chocobos. My sister Chole and I are taking care of the ones in here and out in the paddocks for some of our other customers."

I frowned. "So what do we do? We have to cross the marshes."

"You know," he said, "if you really want some chocobos, you could always go out and catch 'em yourself."

"How do we do that?" I asked.

Billy went on. "Wild chocobos often roam around these parts. Just look for their tracks. But if you don't have a Chocobo Lure on you, they won't show up at all. They're very cautious by nature."

"Chocobo Lure?" Barret grunted. "The hell's that?"

Billy pulled out of his pocket a small crystal orb that glowed with a deep purple light. "It's a special kind of materia that attracts chocobos. They like shiny things, and this little beauty acts like a magnet to 'em if you've got it equipped. But without it, don't expect to see any. I know it sounds a bit farfetched, but it really does work!"

I sighed, not sure how much I believed him but knowing we didn't have much of a choice. "Fine. Anything else we should know?"

"Yeah. Wild chocobos are often chased by monsters for food. They eat the poor birds all the time. But if you can kill the beasts before that happens and save the chocobo, you'll be able to ride it. You've gotta be careful, though. Wild chocobos are very timid and tend to run away in a flash at the slightest thing. But if you can feed them some greens, that should keep 'em occupied long enough for you to saddle 'em. Once you get off 'em, though, wild chocobos run away. They're pretty skittish and not used to being ridden, after all."

"Alright," I nodded. "How much for the materia?"

Billy held it up. "I can sell it to you for 2,000 gil right now. Shall we get down to business, then?"

It was a steep price, to be sure, but we could manage it. We bought the materia along with a pair of old leather saddles, reins, some greens, and a few other things we would need. It didn't take long, and we were just finishing up when I turned to see Aerith take a hat from a rack on the wall and try it on. It was a wide-brimmed wrangler's hat much like the one Tifa had once worn as a teenager.

Aerith grinned. "Well? What do you think, Cloud?"

"It's definitely you," I smirked.

"Yeehaw!" she laughed, doing a pretty good imitation of a chocobo wrangler's accent. "Let's go catch us some chocobos!"

Tifa chuckled. "Sounds like fun."

"Since you like the hat so much, ma'am," Billy said, "why don't you go ahead and keep it? It's on the house."

Aerith shook her head. "Oh, I couldn't do that. How much?"

"Naw, it's alright. You folks've gone and given us some mighty fine business today. So just think of it as a token of our appreciation."

"Thank you! I mean, uh… much obliged, pardner!"

Billy walked away, but before we could head back outside, his sister Chole hurried over to us. She pushed a few strands of her long, reddish hair from her face as her plain burgundy dress swished around her. She looked at us with a pair of pale blue eyes.

"Wasn't it really expensive?" she sighed. "The materia, I mean. I'm really sorry about that. Please don't be mad at my brother or Grandpa. Ever since Mom and Dad died, it's been like this…"

"Don't worry about it," I said. "They were a lot of help."

Chole smiled. "Thanks! And if you ever decide you'd like to raise a few chocobos of your own, come back and see us."

I nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

Fitting the Chocobo Lure into my wrist guard, I led the others out of the stables. As we passed the paddocks again, I saw a sparkle on the ground out of the corner of my eye over by the fence. Tifa must've seen it too because she went right over to it. One of the chocobos stood just on the other side, the dirt at its feet clawed up as something bright red and shiny sparkled in the daylight.

Tifa picked it up. "Cloud, look! Another materia!"

"Looks like the chocobo dug it up," I replied, taking a good look at it. "Billy said they like shiny stuff."

Red gazed at the materia as well. "Fascinating…"

I glanced at him. "Any idea what kind it is?"

"Judging by the color, I would guess it to be a summon. But which one, I do not yet know."

Summon materia are quite powerful, capable of letting you call on the being whose essence is stored inside it and bring it forth to inflict a devastating attack on your enemies. I wondered how one had managed to find its way here but decided it didn't really matter. It was ours now, and it would surely come in handy.

Tifa fit the new materia into one of the slots on her fighting gloves. "Well, whatever it is, we'll find out soon enough."

"Right," I agreed. "Hang on to it."

Our business at the farm finished, we set out into the rolling fields of tall, waving grass to search for chocobos. We stayed together for the time being since we only had the one Chocobo Lure and kept our eyes open for tracks. It didn't take too long to find them, a set of three-toed imprints in the ground. We followed them as they led to the southeast, and a short while later, we finally saw our quarry.

The chocobo squawked, cornered by a pair of Elfadunks, pale blue creatures with thick bodies, long snouts, four stubby legs, a pair of long white horns, tusks, and sharp teeth. I motioned to the others, and they all fanned out as I drew Hardedge. While Barret, Red, and I charged at the monsters, Aerith and Tifa hurried over to the chocobo, feeding it a few greens and doing what they could to calm it down.

A few minutes later, it was all over, the Elfadunks lying dead on the ground. I slid Hardedge back into my new double harness I'd had made back in Kalm to hold both it and Buster, and they lay crosswise against my back, a hilt poking up at an angle behind either shoulder. Then Tifa and I got the chocobo saddled and bridled as it stood before us, calmer now with Aerith cooing to it and patting its feathers.

"You ready?" I asked her.

She blinked. "Me? Thanks, Cloud! I'm all set!"

Grinning from ear to ear, Aerith put her foot in the stirrup while I held the bird steady, and she swung herself onto its broad back. Taking the reins as I let go, she led the chocobo around the area in a slow walk before coming to a stop right in front of me. She leaned forward in the saddle, still beaming, and raised a hand to take the brim of her hat and tilt it in my direction. "Howdy, pardner! Need a lift?"

Barret laughed. "You really gettin' into this, ain't ya?"

"Yeah, I guess I am," she said. "But it's fun!"

"Ain't nothin' wrong with that," he agreed. "It's good to lighten it up a bit sometimes. Right, Spikey?"

I flashed them a wry grin as I got onto the chocobo behind Aerith. "Sure. Just don't expect me to start talking like a wrangler. My sense of fun only goes so far."

"Oh, come on!" Tifa teased. "I'd love to hear you do it, Cloud!"

"Me too!" Aerith piped in.

I shrugged. "Maybe some other time. But for now, let's get moving. We still have to find another chocobo before heading into the marshes. There's no way we can all fit on here."

"An' what about him?" Barret wondered, indicating Red.

The chocobo shied away a little as he approached, but Aerith easily kept it under control. Red looked up at us. "I will be fine, Cloud. Don't worry about me. I can keep up."

"You're sure?" I asked. "What about the Zolom?"

"There are advantages to having four legs, you know. I can match a chocobo's speed without much trouble, and I do not tire easily. Besides, I do not think I could sit upon one of those birds anyway. As far as the serpent of the swamp goes, I can stay ahead of it. I can also help us find a path through the marshes."

I nodded. "Alright. We'll be counting on you, Red."

"Understood," he replied. "I'll do my best."

With that, we got underway, Aerith keeping the chocobo at a walk as Tifa and Barret kept up with us on either side and Red took the lead. We followed the tracks, figuring they would lead us to more, but it was another hour or so before we found a wide patch of ground amidst the grasslands that was crisscrossed with more chocobo tracks. Red led us off to the left, and before long we found another of the birds, this time trying to outrun two Levrikons.

Aerith brought our mount to a stop and I hopped off, drawing my sword as I did so. Just as before, I fought the monsters alongside Barret and Red while Tifa tended to the other chocobo, giving it some greens and keeping it calm. Aerith helped us out with a few blasts of ice magic from atop her chocobo, and before long, the Levrikons were down and we had the second bird saddled and ready to go.

Tifa grabbed the reins and hopped on while Barret sat behind her. Then, as I put Hardedge away again and got back on the other chocobo with Aerith, Tifa brought hers up next to ours. "Looks like we're all set. Off to the marshes now?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "We'll ride until we get to the edge, stop for a bite to eat, then head on in."

"How long do you think it'll take to get across?"

I sighed. "I'm not sure. The swamp goes on for miles, though. So it may take the rest of the day, maybe even into tomorrow."

Barret frowned. "An' if that big-ass snake monster shows up?"

"We run," I decided. "If what Bill told us about the Zolom was true and not some tall tale to help him sell his birds, that'll be the safest bet. We can't fight something that big and fast. Not unless we get a hell of a lot stronger first. Getting to the mines is our priority."

Aerith glanced over her shoulder at me, her emerald eyes suddenly uneasy. "Do you think Sephiroth ran into it?"

"If he did, it's dead," I told her.

She frowned. "Are you sure? It sounds powerful."

"Positive. There's no way he'd lose to a thing like that. I told you all how strong he is, remember?"

"I know, it's just… hard to believe," she said.

I didn't blame her, though. Not really. "I know, Aerith. But it's true. I saw him kill that dragon in Nibelheim without even breaking a sweat. That snake in the swamp wouldn't last ten seconds against him. He's as strong and deadly as I've told you."

"He is," Tifa added quietly. I looked at her, remembering that day. I knew she was, too.

Aerith swallowed hard, adjusting her wrangler's hat with one hand and then the strap tied beneath her chin. "A-Alright. But you know, we should probably still be careful. Even if he killed it, there might still be others out there. It might not be alone."

"You're right," I said. I hadn't considered that the Zolom might not be unique. "We'll keep our eyes open."

Aerith tugged lightly on the reins, and soon we were moving again. She glanced back at me once more, her mouth twisting into a little grin as her spirits lifted with the ride. "Why don't you hold onto me, Cloud? I promise I won't let you fall."

"Uh, okay…" I shrugged, scratching my head.

I had been riding with my arms hanging at my sides, using my legs to grip the chocobo's body and stay atop its back, but at Aerith's urging, I slid my hands around her waist and scooted closer to her. Her fingers closed over mine for just a moment, sending warmth tingling through my belly and making my heart beat a little faster. The scent of her hair teased my nose with its floral aroma, and the warmth of her body close to mine felt surprisingly good.

Aerith giggled. "That's better. When this is all over, how about you and I ride off into the sunset together like in those old movies? I think it'd be a great way to end our journey, don't you?"

"Might be nice," I agreed. "It's something to look forward to."

"Definitely!" she said.

After giving my hand a gentle squeeze, Aerith let it go so she could hold the reins with both of hers. We rode south, Tifa and Barret at our side while Red kept a short distance ahead of us. A light breeze cooled our cheeks as we went on, and we didn't say much for a while, just bits of idle conversation here and there as we traveled. The miles stretched onward, and as we drew closer to the marshes, the ground underneath us began to grow softer and spongier. We passed a few small towns and some villages but didn't enter any of them. The main highway here led toward our destination, but we kept a good distance from it and didn't see many travelers. Few cars and trucks drove this way anymore, and if the rumors about all the monsters in the mines and the Midgar Zolom were true, it wasn't hard to see why.

It was late afternoon by the time we brought our chocobos to a halt less than a hundred yards from the edge of the marshes. A vast, endless expanse of gnarled, twisted trees with long, drooping branches loomed before us not so far away, their thick roots buried deep within the mud that covered the ground. The swamp stretched as far as we could see to either side, contained only by two lines mountains that at the moment were beyond our sight and which converged to the southeast where the entrance to the mines awaited us many miles away.

Aerith and Barret dismounted while Tifa and I stayed on our birds to keep them from running, and we had a brief lunch there in the long shadow of the marshes. None of us said much, and overhead, the skies began to grow cloudy again. No rain just yet, but I could smell it in the air. So as we finished eating and packed up our things, we took out our coats and slipped them on before getting back onto the chocobos. This time, though, I rode in front with Aerith behind me. She had taken off her wrangler's hat earlier and had carefully stowed it in her pack before climbing back onto our bird with me.

"I have a bad feeling about this place," she murmured.

I nodded, eying the swamp. "Yeah. So do I. We've gotta go in there, though. There's no helping it."

"I know," she said, sliding her arms around my waist. "It's just… it's a very wild place. A lot of life, but… dangerous and dark."

"You can sense that?" I glanced back at her.

Aerith tightened her grip on me ever so slightly. "A little. It's part of what I am, I think. The Cetra… they loved nature. They could feel the life around them and did what they could to nurture it. Mom—that is, my real mom—told me about them sometimes, when I could hear her in the church. There's still a lot I don't know, though."

I thought for a minute. "Can you sense the Zolom?"

"No," she shook her head. "It doesn't work like that, sorry. It's just a general feeling, really. Nothing specific."

I shrugged. "It's alright, Aerith. We'll be fine."

Tifa pulled up beside us, Barret sitting behind her as before. "Red's gone ahead to check on the road. Are we going in from there?"

"Yeah," I answered. "If it's still in one piece, that is."

She gazed at the line of trees. "And if it isn't?"

"Then we'll make our own path," I said. "One way or another, we're getting through these marshes."

About fifteen minutes later, Red returned, his face grim. "Cloud. It is as we suspected. The highway is closed and barricaded."

I nodded. "Can we get around it?"

"Perhaps," he answered. "Although from what I could see, the road was in a state of extreme disrepair as it entered the marshes. It does not appear to have been used for quite some time. It must have once led all the way to the mines, but I don't believe it does anymore."

"Alright. We go in here, then. Red, you take the lead. Scout out the land ahead of us and find us a way through. We'll be right behind you. And if you run into trouble, hurry back to us as fast as you can. Aerith, Barret, you two have the map and the compass, so keep us facing south and east as much as possible. We don't want to get lost in there. I don't think I have to tell you how easy that is to do."

Barret grunted. "Gives me the chills jus' thinkin' 'bout it."

"I know," I glanced at him. "Same here. So let's make sure it doesn't happen. I know you guys can do it."

"We will, Cloud," Aerith assured me. "Don't worry about us."

That was all I needed to know. I looked at everyone then, each one in turn, seeing the readiness and commitment in their eyes. We were a good team, and I knew we could make it across the treacherous swamp and into the mines. They knew it, too. Each of us had a job to do, and I hoped that by focusing on those tasks, it would help us keep our minds busy and prevent the anxiety we all felt from getting out of hand. It was going to be a long and difficult journey, our first real test since leaving Midgar. But it was one I knew we would pass.

I lifted the reins, and we got moving. "Let's go, everyone."

* * *

I shivered in spite of myself as we rode slowly into the midst of the brooding trees of the marshes. A mist hung over the place, and an eerie stillness. I didn't need to glance over at Cloud to know he felt the same way I did. Pools of dark, murky water lay everywhere in this place, and the ground was covered in reeds and black, oozing mud. Red loped on ahead, searching for firmer ground, and we followed him, keeping our mounts at a slow but steady pace for now and conserving their energy. I hoped we wouldn't run into the Zolom, but if we did, we would need every bit of speed the chocobos could give us. So for now, we took our time and walked them through the swamp.

"Damn, I hate this place," Barret muttered from behind me.

I sighed. "I know. I don't like it, either."

"You'd think Spike would've waited 'til mornin' to ride on in here. I ain't lookin' forward to bein' in here after dark."

"He didn't want to lose time," I replied, knowing I was right. "That would have let Sephiroth get further ahead of us. We've got flashlights, remember? And I'm sure Red can see pretty well in the dark. If all goes as planned, we'll reach the other side sometime tomorrow."

Barret grunted. "Let's hope it does, girl."

I nodded but didn't say anything else. I guided my chocobo along, letting her follow the trails Red found for us as well as picking her own as she went. I'd noticed that she was a girl when we had first caught her back in the fields. The coloring of the feathers was a little lighter than it was on a boy, and their beaks were a bit shorter as well. Chole had told me about it while Cloud had been dealing with Billy in the stables, and she had mentioned something about a Chocobo Sage, too. I didn't have any idea who that was, though, but had promised her we would let her know if we ever met him during our travels.

The first few hours were thankfully uneventful, and although I was sure we were making progress, the marshes still stretched on for many miles and so it seemed like we hadn't gone very far. We had to turn and twist our way through the trees to stay on solid ground, and though we didn't see anything aside from the insects buzzing around us, we could hear the occasional forlorn cry of a bird flapping in the branches or the croaking of frogs from somewhere deep in the reeds.

But as twilight approached and we traveled onward, the land began to change. There were many more pools of water, and much larger, and it became harder for us to find a firm path amidst the mud. Red's paws were covered in it when he came back to us, his face grim in the fading light. We brought our mounts to a halt as he picked his way toward us, padding carefully across the spongy ground, the tip of his tail burning brightly in the coming night.

"There is a large lake just ahead of us," he growled. "The ground, as you can see, has become much less stable, and it grows worse the closer we get to the shore. If we can reach the far side, however, I believe that our path will become easier after that."

Cloud nodded. "Let's get to it, then. Watch your step."

We went on, and a few minutes later, we emerged from the trees to see the long body of water that Red had told us about. Thick clusters of reeds and cattails lined the edge, and the ground was even wetter here. We inched along, Red testing the way forward with his paws. I glanced at the lake, suddenly uneasy as ripples flowed across the surface. There was no way to see what might be lurking underneath.

"Cloud…" I said. "Do you think something's in there?"

His eyes, their mako glow clearly visible in the gloom, reflected my own anxiety back at me. "Could be. And I doubt this is the only lake in the swamp. It would take a lot more than just one to make the marshes what they are. Best to keep quiet until we're well past it."

I agreed wholeheartedly with his idea, and so we all rode in silence along the western side of the lake. Although the sky was growing dark, we didn't pull out our flashlights yet in order to avoid being detected. I went along as best I could, letting my eyes adjust to the dimness, and it seemed as if we were going to reach the southern end without incident. But then, when we were just over halfway there, my chocobo suddenly jerked around and squawked as more ripples swept across the water. It was all I could do to keep her under control, and I saw that Cloud was having the same trouble with his mount.

"Easy, girl," I whispered to my bird. "What's wrong?"

I heard Barret bringing up his gun-arm as he peered about. "Seems they got wind of somethin' they don't like."

"Yeah, but what?" I wondered.

"Damned if I know, but I don't like it much."

From her place on the other chocobo with Cloud, Aerith looked at the lake, her voice quiet. "Something's not right."

Red's good eye narrowed. "I feel it too, Aerith. We must hurry."

Cloud motioned for us to keep going, but no sooner had we begun than something huge and dark suddenly shot up out of the water until it loomed high above us, a thing born of nightmares. It was, as Bill had said, over thirty feet tall and at least six feet thick. Scales covered every part of its massive body, grayish-brown in most places but yellow along its underbelly. Its long, forked tongue flicked in and out of its mouth as a dry hissing pierced the air and sent chills coursing down my spine. A wide hood of scaly flesh surrounded its round head on both sides, and it gazed at us with a pair of pale, beady eyes as its tail whipped through the air almost with a life of its own.

Gathering itself, the Midgar Zolom raced toward us.


	30. BOOK TWO: PURSUIT - SEVEN

**BOOK TWO: PURSUIT**

* * *

**SEVEN**

"_Run!"_

The others didn't need to be told twice. As the Midgar Zolom shot toward us as if it had been fired from a cannon, I leaned in close to my chocobo and urged him into a gallop. I could feel Aerith's arms around my waist, gripping me tightly as that giant, monstrous serpent quickly closed in behind us. To our right, Tifa and Barret raced toward the line of trees just beyond the southern end of the lake, and I angled my bird toward it as well while Red sprinted just ahead of us and the first drops of rain began to fall from the overcast sky.

As we splashed across the muddy, sodden ground, the wind picked up as the rain fell faster and thunder rumbled not so far away. It wasn't loud enough to drown out the Zolom's sudden, hissing roar as it closed in. I glanced behind us and saw it slithering up out of the lake not fifty yards away, its fangs long, curved, and deadly.

I whipped my head back to the right a moment later when I heard Tifa suddenly cry out. Her chocobo had run right into a wide patch of mud that must have looked more solid than it was. Tifa shrieked as the bird went down and she flew right over it in a forward somersault. She managed to right herself in midair, but she still came down in the mud, her hands and feet sinking right into it when she landed.

Tifa's chocobo wasn't any better off as it struggled to pull itself free from the muck. Barret had managed to stay on, but quickly got off as I brought my own mount around and hurried back toward them, calling to Red as I did so. When Aerith and I got close, I jumped right off and grabbed Tifa's outstretched hands in both of mine. She had sunk nearly to her waist, and I pulled as hard as I could and tried to ignore the loud bursts of magical energy exploding around us as Aerith and Red threw spell after spell at the giant serpent to cover us.

While Barret worked to free his and Tifa's chocobo, I pulled harder to try and get Tifa out. But the ground was slick, and I began to slide as the rain came down faster. I had to crouch down to reach her now, and as Tifa fought to escape the muck, it pulled her in further, down to her chest even as I tried to lift her out of it. The snake's hissing sounded in my ears, and I risked a quick glance over my shoulder to see it looming right behind us, lunging at Aerith and Red.

There was a sudden flash of yellow light from Red's headdress, and then a barrage of energy missiles streaked toward the Zolom and hit it in an explosion nearly as loud as the thunder that suddenly split across the sky as a forking bolt of lightning struck one of the trees nearby and blew it apart. Then the ground around the serpent suddenly rose up in a small earthquake and struck the creature with large chunks of rock as Aerith let loose with some earth magic. Although the spells were doing some damage, the serpent was huge and tough, and it kept on biting at Aerith and Red and lashing its tail at them.

But what captured my attention in that brief moment was the sight of the patch of ground where Aerith had cast her spell. It had been wet and muddy before, but after its upheaval by the magic, it had dried out somewhat and was firmer now. An idea suddenly came to me, and as I strained to hold onto Tifa, I looked to Aerith, who was still on our bird casting her spells at the Zolom and dodging its vicious attacks as much as she could, her staff held high as she fought.

"Aerith!" I shouted. "Your earth magic! It'll dry the ground! I need it to get Tifa out!"

She turned toward us. "Hold on! I'll—"

The giant snake's thick tail suddenly slammed into her side, cutting her off in midsentence and hurling her off the chocobo. She managed a single startled shriek before landing in a heap on the ground. My heart was pounding as shifted my gaze between her and Tifa, worry for both women filling my mind. As I shook the falling rain out of my eyes and strained to free Tifa from the deep pool of sucking mud, Aerith got up and hurried over to us while behind her, the Zolom flinched as Red hit it with another enchanted missile salvo.

"You okay?" I asked Aerith as she knelt next to me.

She nodded. "I'll be alright, Cloud. Just got a little banged up, that's all. We've got to get Tifa and the chocobo out, though."

Holding her staff out before her, Aerith drew forth the earth magic and directed it toward the mud. As with the Zolom, the ground shifted and churned, erupting in a burst of rock and dirt, and just as I'd hoped, the spell broke Tifa loose almost at once, practically throwing her onto me as the chocobo also escaped with Barret's help. As I pulled her free, I fell backward onto the ground, and Tifa landed on top of me, clinging fiercely to me as I held her.

She looked up as a shadow fell across us. "Cloud! Look out!"

Before I knew it, Tifa was pulling me into a sideways roll just as the serpent's tail came crashing down on the spot where we had been only a moment ago. She and I both sprang to our feet as we kept going, and I saw that Aerith had also managed to dodge the attack. She had rolled away as well, but in the opposite direction, and now she was on her feet throwing more spells at the Zolom.

"Everyone back on the chocobos!" I ordered. "Now!"

Barret was already on his, and Tifa leaped up behind him as Aerith caught ours before it could get too far and swung onto it. I struck at the Zolom with a quick blast of fire from my materia before jumping onto the chocobo behind her as Red ran ahead of us toward the trees, which were only a dozen yards or so away now. I hoped the creature wouldn't follow us in there, but it seemed determined to catch us. Aerith had to jerk the chocobo sharply to the right as the thing's head suddenly came down, its gaping jaws snapping at us.

Then we were running again, my arms around Aerith's waist as she bent low over the chocobo's head and urged him into a gallop. Around us, the rain kept falling, faster now as we plunged back into the shelter of the trees and quickly left the clearing and the lake behind. Lightning flashed again, turning the night into day for just a moment as thunder exploded across the sky in a deafening roar.

Behind us, the Zolom kept coming, slithering between the tall, wet trunks of oaks, cypresses, and willows as they flew past us in a blur. We could barely see, so I reached into one of the saddlebags and took out a flashlight. There was no point in not using it now, since the giant snake already knew exactly where we were. I flipped the switch and shone the light ahead of us as I blinked rain out of my eyes and saw Tifa doing as I had and getting her own flashlight out.

As Red had told us earlier, the ground here was more solid, though there were still pools, wet spots, and patches of oozing mud in places. I kept an eye on the path ahead to make sure we didn't have another fall like Tifa had earlier, but the chocobos seemed more sure of which way to go now, picking their steps with care even as they ran while in front of them, Red led us safely through the maze of trees, reeds, rain, muck, and water. The wind whipped around us, its howling rivaled by the dry hissing of the Zolom as it continued to chase us.

But eventually it fell behind, unable to keep up with the chocobos' great speed, and then it was gone, fading back into the night. I glanced behind us at the empty marshlands as we rode in silence, hardly able to believe we had finally escaped that terrible thing. We slowed down, but only a little, keeping up a brisk pace for a while to put as much distance between us and the Zolom as we could. And while the storm lessened, the thunder fading away into a quiet stillness, the rain continued to fall in a steady drizzle all around us as the wind died down to a light breeze that swept across our cheeks.

After riding for about an hour with no sign of the giant serpent, we stopped to rest in a small clearing filled with reeds and tall grass. I had intended to ride straight through the swamp without any sort of pause, but after our encounter with the Zolom and the long chase, I knew we needed some time to catch our breath and rest the chocobos. After we had tethered the birds, tying the reins to the branches of a nearby tree, we all sat down for while, Aerith using her healing wind to tend to our wounds before joining us herself.

Barret sighed. "Guess Bill wasn't lyin' 'bout that thing after all. That snake damn near had us."

"If it wasn't for the chocobos, it would have," Tifa agreed.

Aerith grinned. "If we ever go back to the Chocobo Farm someday, I'm going to give him a big hug!"

"We're not through the marshes yet," I reminded her.

"I know. But we've made it this far. And we've got to think positive, Cloud. We'll make it, you'll see."

I nodded. "We will, Aerith. I don't doubt it."

Tifa glanced at me. "How much farther is it, do you think?"

"We're about halfway there, I'm guessing," I told her. "Maybe a little more. We've still got a long way to go, though."

That was true enough. I had studied the map we had bought at the farm before we had entered the swamp, and I looked at it again now as I sat with my back against the trunk of an old oak tree. If we kept going at a steady rate, I figured we would break free of the marshes sometime tomorrow morning or maybe in the early afternoon. It was getting late now, almost midnight, and weariness seemed to permeate every part of my body. I decided it couldn't hurt to get some sleep while we still had the chance. But before I put the map away and told the others, I looked at where it showed the southern part of the swamp and saw something that sent a shiver of dread down my spine.

I sighed. "Red, come here a minute. We've got a problem."

"What's wrong?" he asked as he padded over.

I showed him the map. "We've got trouble. If what we just escaped from is any indication."

"Three lakes, quite a bit larger than the first," he observed.

"Shit!" Barret spat. "You think there's more of them friggin' snakes hidin' in there somewhere?"

Red nodded. "It is a distinct possibility."

Tifa glanced at me, worry in her eyes. "Can't we go around them?"

"They're all spread out about twenty miles south of us," I shook my head. "It would take too long."

"However, there might be a way through," Red added.

Aerith glanced at him. "What do you mean?"

"The map shows a narrow strip of land running in between two of the lakes," Red answered. "Although they are quite wide, much more so than the first one we encountered, they are not as tall, and I don't think it will take us more than an hour to pass them. Perhaps even half that if we hurry and keep the chocobos at a run."

"And the third lake?" Tifa wondered.

I tapped the map. "It's a bit further south than the other two, and it looks to be as big as the others. No easy way past it, though. We'll have to follow the shore and hope for the best. We'll keep within the trees if we can, but if the ground's anything like it was around the first lake, we may not have a choice but to stay near the water."

Aerith glanced at her staff. "You know, my earth magic might help get us through as well. It made the ground more solid."

"Good idea," I agreed. "Be sure to watch your energy, though."

Our plan set, we spread out our sleeping bags and prepared to rest. We didn't put up the tents, though, just in case we had to make a quick escape. We also set a watch, an hour for each of us, and I took the first. Although it would delay our escape from the swamp, we needed to get some rest after the terrifying ordeal with the Midgar Zolom, especially since it seemed more than likely that we would encounter its friends by the time we finally got out of this place.

The rain slowed but didn't stop as I sat there while the others slept. The leaves from the trees kept some of it out, but not all of it. It wasn't coming down hard, though. Not much more than a light drizzle now. I pulled my jacket closer around my shoulders as I listened to the water dripping and the other sounds of the marsh, the wind and the crickets, the splashing of a toad in a nearby pond. It was, as Aerith had told me, a place with a lot of life. I could hear it all around us.

About five hours later, I felt a furred muzzle nudging my arm, and I blinked open my eyes. Red had taken the last watch, and he was now padding around the campsite and waking us up. Despite the rain, I had managed to get a little sleep after Tifa had relieved me, and after eating a quick breakfast, we untethered the chocobos and set out again. Dawn hadn't arrived quite yet, but the sky was starting to lighten a little in the east as we rode onward, the blackness of the night slowly giving way to the deep blue of early morning. If our luck held, we would be out of the swamp by the end of the day. Sooner, if all went well.

I didn't want to think about what would happen otherwise.

* * *

We traveled in silence through the swamp, not wishing to alert any of its monstrous inhabitants to our whereabouts, especially more of the giant serpents. As before, I padded ahead of the others, the mud sticky beneath my paws as I tested the ground. The predawn gloom did little to hinder my sight, and I kept my ears alert, listening for anything that might pose a threat to us.

Nothing appeared at first, but as we passed a modest pond, I heard a soft hissing and flattened my ears, growling to warn the others. It was only a moment later that about half a dozen snakelike creatures, much smaller than the Midgar Zolom, suddenly erupted from the water and slithered toward us. They might have been its young, though I couldn't be certain. Their scales were more bluish in color, and they were about six feet long and nearly half a foot thick. Dangerous enough, to be sure, but compared to their parent, far less so.

While Barret fired at them with his gun-arm and Aerith unleashed some of her earth spells, I hit the snakes with another barrage of those enchanted missiles. The materia nestled within my feathered headdress glowed a bright yellow as I used the magic. I had found the little orb in Hojo's lab just after the fight with that twisted specimen of his and had picked it up before joining Cloud and the others.

From what I had seen and heard during my captivity, I knew it was a prototype of sorts, a very different kind of materia that didn't grow in the same way others did. Its draws its power from the energies used by the magical abilities of certain monsters. When those abilities are used against the materia's wielder, it captures those energies and stores them within it, allowing whoever holds the materia to use those abilities as if they were the monster they were taken from.

The enchanted missiles were the only such skill I had learned thus far. I had picked it up from one of the Shinra machines prowling about the badlands around Midgar the day we left, and it had proven a useful tool to use against the various creatures that we had encountered so far in our journey. It did so again now, pummeling the snakes and sending those that survived the blast scattering in all directions only to be shot or crushed by Barret and Aerith's attacks while Cloud and Tifa kept the chocobos under control and on the path.

We pressed onward, leaving the dead serpents behind us as the sun rose above the treetops, the early morning light filtering down through the leaves. The miles wore on, and though we encountered a few more groups of smaller monsters—more nests of those blue-scaled snakes as well as a few dragon-like creatures hovering in the air with two pairs of leathery wings—none of them proved especially troublesome. I did get singed once by the pseudodragons' fiery breath, and when it happened, the materia in my headdress flashed yellow, and I could sense its power growing in response to the attack.

I decided to try out my new skill when we ran across a trio of ugly four-legged things that looked like a cross between a crab and a spider, covered as they were in a hard purple carapace. I dove into myself and called upon the materia's power as they scuttled toward me, and then a moment later, a stream of fire shot out at one of the beasts, scorching it as my friends took out the others from atop the chocobos. It didn't take long, and we hurried on, all of us wanting to escape from these terrible marshlands as soon as we could.

The rain continued falling in a steady drizzle, having stopped only for a short time in the early morning, as we made our way south. It was perhaps an hour or so before noon when the ground ahead of us began to grow softer and wetter as we approached the lakes, and I took more care to choose our path as we slowed down and the conversations that had been passing between us faded into silence.

We came to the narrow strip of land between the two lakes, all our senses alert. I scanned the water, but nothing showed itself, so I led the others across. The natural bridge was only about fifty yards across and choked with reeds, and it went on for almost a mile until it reached the far shore. I don't think we actually breathed as we crept along, moving as quickly and as quietly as we could. My eye kept returning again and again to the lakes on either side of us, but still there was nothing. Only a few ripples flowing over the surface. If there were more creatures like the Zolom lurking underwater, they didn't show themselves. I strained my ears, but even my acute hearing could not find anything aside from the normal sounds of the swamp.

After what seemed like an eternity, we finally reached the far shore and passed into the woods. We didn't relax until the lakes were at least a mile or so behind us, however. Now only the third one remained, but it was still some distance ahead of us. After traveling a few more miles, we paused for a brief rest before moving on again. Above us, the clouds darkened into a sullen gray as thunder rumbled in the distance. I didn't like it, but there was little we could do. The storm was heading our way and would catch up to us before long, likely by the time we reached the last of the lakes. Cloud knew it too, from the frown I saw on his face as I glanced back at him and the others.

We kept going, Aerith using her earth magic to harden the ground whenever it proved to be particularly troublesome and difficult to pass. Her spellcasting grew much more frequent as we drew closer to the last lake and the muck became more treacherous. We stayed in the trees at first, but soon it became too hard even for Aerith to form a stable path for us to move upon as mud and wetness filled the ground everywhere and forced us out of the woods and close to the water.

Although the ground here wasn't much better off, it was still solid enough that we could get through, though it slowed our progress down almost to a halt as we had to watch virtually every step. I did the best I could to guide the others while listening for anything coming from the lake. At first there was nothing, just as before, and it seemed as though we might get through without incident. But then, when we were nearly to the southern shore, the rippled on the lake's surface intensified, and we all turned, paralyzed in that moment, as the terror burst forth from the water as it had yesterday, its dry hissing loud in our ears. Only this time, the foul creature wasn't alone.

Not one, but _three_ giant serpents exploded from the lake.

"Oh, _shit_…" Barret gaped.

The three Zoloms slithered toward us, sweeping out of the water in an instant as they bared their long, curved fangs. But in that moment, I suddenly heard a quick rustle of movement from the trees behind us as something sharp, metallic, and with four razor points flew through the air in a wide arc, spinning as it went and cutting right across the face of one of the giant serpents before hitting the next one and then the third before its trajectory carried it back toward the woods, where a familiar figure caught it easily from atop her chocobo.

"What are you guys just standing there for?" the girl shouted. "Get goin', will ya?"

I stared at her in disbelief. "You!"

It was the young ninja thief from Kalm. She glanced at us over her shoulder as she turned her mount. "Looks like you all caught up to me. No time to chat, though!"

"Wait!" I growled. "We've been looking for you!"

"Thought so. Can't stick around to play right now, but I know we're gonna run into each other again soon. Then we can have at it and find out who's the best! See ya later!"

Then she was gone, disappearing back into the woods as quickly as she had come. I sprinted after her, the others just behind me, while the serpents closed in on us, their tails sweeping over us as we ran. A flash of lightning forked across the sky as thunder exploded around us. Rain poured down faster now, and as we raced into the woods, the serpents followed, smashing through the branches and biting at us. But we kept ahead of them, the chocobos darting swiftly through the muck as I ran at their side. I looked for the girl, but she was already long gone, faster than I would have thought possible.

After many long, tense minutes, the giant snakes at last fell behind as the chocobos and I finally outran them. Soon the only sounds aside from us were those of the swamp and the storm, the smells of rain and mud thick in my nose as we hurried onward, none of us speaking until we had put some miles between us and the lake.

"I hate to admit it," Barret grumbled, "but that damn girl jus' saved our asses back there."

I nodded. "Indeed. We might not have escaped otherwise."

"The hell was she doin' in this friggin' place, anyway?"

"Bill said we might run into her, remember?" Cloud told him. "She bought a chocobo from the farm before we got there."

Aerith blinked. "We're lucky she did, Cloud. That was close."

"No kidding. But we've gotten through the worst of it, I think. Just thirty more miles or so and we'll be outta here."

"Thank goodness!" she breathed. "I'll be glad for that!"

We all shared that sentiment, of course, and so we kept moving, no other creatures showing themselves as we passed. Neither did the ninja girl. The remainder of the journey proved to be thankfully uneventful, and after traveling for a few more hours, we finally reached the fringes of the swamp as the ground grew much firmer and more solid beneath our feet, the long reeds and cattails soon giving way to rolling waves of tall, knee-high grass. Well, knee-high for you two-legs. But as for me, it rose up almost to my shoulders. I almost wished it was higher, though, if only to block out what suddenly came into view before us. I stared at it, a chill racing down my spine, as the others did the same.

* * *

We stood in shocked silence at the very edge of the swamp, the last of the trees scattered around us as we gazed at the ominous sight ahead of us. The storm had moved away from us during the last few hours, its fury distant now and the rolling of thunder farther away. But lightning still streaked across the sky as the rain slackened until it was little more than a light drizzle. I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry as I sat on the chocobo with Aerith and my blood turned to ice. Near the entrance to the gorge leading into the Mythril Mines stood a dead, leafless old tree, its branches long gone. And wrapped around its thick, towering trunk was a Midgar Zolom.

What was left of it, that is.

It was clearly dead, impaled through the heart with its head gaping open upside down in the damp, still air. Blood covered its huge, scaled body and ran down the sides of the tree as its tongue hung limply from its jaws. Beyond it, the mountains frowned down at us, but I didn't pay much attention to them. My eyes were locked on the dead serpent, and for a few moments, no one spoke.

Eventually, I broke the silence. "Did Sephiroth… do this?"

I shook my head at my own doubts, remembering then what I had told Aerith. Of course he had. It couldn't have been anyone else. It had to have been him. He had been here, but how long ago? I looked again at the blood, seeing how dry it was. The monster must have been dead since yesterday at least. Sephiroth still had a good lead on us, but I was determined to catch up to him.

"Damn, he's gotta be tough as hell," Barret murmured.

Red nodded. "It's a power we should respect."

"Amazing…" Tifa breathed, her eyes locked on the dead serpent. "I knew he was strong, but… not like this…"

I knew what she meant. Talking about Sephiroth's power was a hell of a lot different than seeing it right there on display in front of us. We had traveled dozens of miles across the treacherous marshlands, barely escaping from these things and hardly even scratching them with all of our attacks and spells. And now, after finally getting out of that hellish place—exhausted, dirty, and covered with splotches of dried mud—we had found this grisly sight waiting for us. All our struggles and escapes, and Sephiroth had gone and murdered this thing just as casually as any of us would have swatted a fly.

Behind me, Aerith was uncharacteristically silent.


	31. BOOK TWO: PURSUIT - EIGHT

**BOOK TWO: PURSUIT**

* * *

**EIGHT**

We made camp about a mile or two into the gorge, well out of sight of the dead serpent. After our harrowing journey through the marshes, we decided to take a day to rest and recuperate before heading into the mines. I didn't like the delay, knowing that Sephiroth was getting even further ahead of us, but I knew we all needed the break after all that we had endured in that hellish swamp.

We set up the tents within a small cluster of oak trees along the left side of the ravine. Mountains rose up above us to the south and west as the skies cleared and the sun came out. We took turns washing up in a nearby stream, getting the mud and dirt off as best we could. But there wasn't very much we could do for our clothes, which were pretty much covered in muck. At least, that was what I'd thought at first. But Aerith, it seemed, had bought some soap back in Kalm when we had done our shopping. She always seemed to have a way of thinking ahead like that. But what really surprised me was that Barret, out of all of us, knew the most about this sort of thing.

"Never figured you for the domestic type," I smirked.

Barret snorted. "Who said anythin' 'bout that? I ain't, but Marlene's clothes don't get clean by themselves. An' she always loved jumpin' into them mud puddles outside the bar and splashin' like hell."

"Biggs brought her inside one day and she was completely covered in it from head to toe, remember?" Tifa laughed.

"Oh, hell yeah," Barret chuckled. "Pain in the ass to clean, too."

I raised an eyebrow as he took the small box of laundry soap from Aerith. This was a side of him I'd never even imagined him having, and I wondered what else there was about him that I didn't know yet. More than I thought, probably. We had bathed already and had changed into some of the extra clothes we'd brought with us. Picking those up hadn't ever occurred to me, but Tifa had thought of it back in Kalm when we had gone shopping, and now I was glad for it.

"Here, Spike," Barret thrust a pile of our dirty clothes at me. "Make yourself useful an' carry these."

I ignored Tifa's laughter and tried not to feel too self-conscious as I did as Barret had ordered while he and Aerith walked with us down to the stream. She was still oddly subdued and hadn't said much since we had seen Sephiroth's handiwork at the edge of the swamp. I fell in next to her as we drew close to the water.

"You okay?" I asked.

She sighed. "Yeah, it's just… what we saw, it was so overwhelming. You were right, Cloud. I… I'm sorry I doubted you."

I shook it off. "It's alright, Aerith. Don't worry about it. All you had to go on was what I told you."

"That should have been enough, though."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," I told her. "It's no big deal."

Now she did smile, and it was good to see it. "Thanks, Cloud. That makes me feel better."

"No problem," I grinned. "Just doing my job."

"Keeping me whole in every way. You really are a good bodyguard, Cloud," Aerith said, her green eyes twinkling. "And you know, you look awfully cute helping out with the laundry."

I laughed. "Thanks. I think…"

Tifa winked at me. "She's right, you know."

I shook my head helplessly, then glanced over at Barret. "So how'd you learn to do this stuff, anyway?"

He stopped abruptly a few yards from the water's edge, his eyes not on us but somewhere far away. Barret didn't answer at first, but I knew he had heard me. He just stood there for a moment, the box of soap in his hand. What was the matter? It had just been a simple question, and I had no idea why it had affected him like this. His voice was strangely quiet when he finally answered, softer than I'd ever heard it before, and tinged with an ache I found oddly familiar.

"My wife taught me…" he sighed.

I exchanged a startled glance with Tifa and Aerith, both of them as surprised by Barret's words as I was. And by Tifa's stunned expression, I knew she'd had no more idea that he'd been married than I had. She'd known him for years, but apparently he had never mentioned this even to her. I wondered why he had kept it so private.

"Your wife?" I asked, putting down the stack of dirty clothes.

Barret nodded. "Yeah. Long time ago."

"What happened to her?" Aerith wondered.

"Don't wanna talk 'bout it right now," he said, his gaze still distant. "It's jus' hard, ya know?"

She patted his arm. "I understand, Barret. It's okay."

Moving up by the shore to stand on his other side, Tifa put a hand on his shoulder. "You miss her, don't you?"

At her words, I suddenly understood why the ache in Barret's voice had seemed so familiar to me. I'd heard it in my own voice whenever I had talked about Jessie. Losing her had hurt badly enough, and I'd only known her for a short time. I couldn't imagine how much harder it had to have been for Barret, who had lost a woman who had been his wife. How long had they been married? What had happened to her? I was as curious about it as the girls, but we knew better than to pry into it. He'd tell us when he was ready.

He glanced at Tifa. "Yeah. Comes an' goes, but… I do."

"Well, we're here for you whenever you're ready," she smiled.

Barret gazed at us for a minute, and I returned his nod with one of my own. Then we got to work on those dirty clothes. Or rather, he and Aerith did after they shooed us away. Tifa and I headed back up to the tents, where Red was taking a nap outside. He had lain down almost as soon as he had finished taking a dip in the stream earlier to wash off all the mud and dirt from his paws and fur.

While Tifa worked on dinner, I got a small fire going, and soon the flames danced and flickered in the late afternoon sun. Then I sat down and watched as Tifa set everything out. By the time the food was ready, Barret and Aerith had returned from the stream, our clothes clean but damp. They laid them out by the fire to dry as Red stirred and woke up with a yawn that showed off plenty of sharp teeth.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and we turned in early that night, taking turns on watch as we had the day before. Two hours each this time. Nothing bothered us, though, and the only sounds we could hear were the chirping of crickets somewhere in the underbrush and a soft breeze whispering through the trees. I had the last watch this time, taking over from Aerith, who had woken me with a smile and a gentle nudge on my shoulder before returning to the tent that she shared with Tifa. She glanced at me over her shoulder for a moment, her green eyes glittering with reflected firelight, and then disappeared inside. It took a minute or two for me to finally look away.

Dawn was just creeping over the eastern horizon when I heard the chopper. I glanced up at once as it flew overhead, ignoring the startled mutterings of the others as they woke up. Although the helicopter was fairly high up, I knew who it was. The chopper sped southwest over the mountains and past the mines before descending out of sight. The only thing I wondered was why it had taken them so long.

"The hell was that?" Barret barked, stumbling out of the tent.

I glanced at him. "A Shinra helicopter. It's probably somewhere on the other side of the mines by now."

He stared at me. "Say what? They know we're here?"

"I'm not sure. But I'd say it's a good bet we'll run into them."

"Damn!" Barret muttered. "We'll jus' hafta blast through 'em then. Friggin' Shinra bastards…"

Aerith emerged from the other tent only seconds later, bewildered but very much awake and with Tifa just behind her. "What's happened, Cloud? What's going on?"

I explained the situation to them while Red padded over to join us. It didn't take long, and we agreed that it would be best to get underway as soon as possible. So after a quick breakfast, we took down the tents, gathered our things, and headed out. We traveled north for a few miles until we reached the broken remains of the abandoned highway. A few cars and trucks sat along the cracked pavement, rusted and empty, and it felt as if no one had come this way in a thousand years.

We had switched partners on the chocobos today when we had set out, and now Tifa sat behind me while Aerith rode behind Barret. Red, as usual, loped a little ahead of us. Heading southwest, we followed the ruined highway deeper into the gorge. It was a quiet journey, and none of us spoke much. There was no further sign of Sephiroth, and I wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disturbed by that fact. We also didn't see any hint of that ninja thief. She must have still been out there ahead of us somewhere, maybe even already in the mines, but there was no way to know for certain. She had helped us back in the swamp, though, so I figured we would see her again sooner or later.

After about an hour or so, we reached a small settlement sitting in the shadow of the mountains, crouched at their feet and utterly devoid of people. Like the highway, it must have been abandoned months ago after the mines closed down and the monsters emerged. We only saw a few of the beasts wandering about the empty streets, tearing mindlessly through the broken remains of shops and homes, but I knew there had to be more of them. Probably keeping out of sight until nightfall. They must have swarmed out of the mines and either killed or driven off the townspeople. It didn't seem like they'd had much warning. We rode on, making our way through town until we finally reached the entrance to the mines on a low, rocky ledge just past the foreman's office. The black maw of the tunnel gaped open like the mouth of some impossibly huge monster, and I saw that the lights along the walls were dead. There was hardly a sound to be heard as we brought our mounts to a halt and got off. Even the chocobos were quiet.

"Damn, but this place is spooky," Barret muttered.

"_Cree_-py," Aerith agreed.

I started unsaddling my chocobo. "No kidding. But we gotta go in. Sephiroth's bound to be on the other side by now."

Putting the saddles, bridles, and other riding equipment aside, the four of us quickly redistributed our gear while Red kept a watchful eye on the abandoned town behind us. We couldn't take the chocobos into the mines with us, much as I would have liked to. I'd started to get used to riding them, but they wouldn't do well underground and the tunnels were likely too narrow for them to be comfortable, anyway. I knew the girls would miss the birds the most.

Aerith cooed to them, whispering a few soothing words while Tifa carefully brushed their feathers. When they were done, Aerith nodded, and I lightly smacked one chocobo and then the other on the backside of its feathered tail. They squawked, scampered around for a minute or two, then ran off back the way we'd come.

"Well," Barret sighed. "Ain't no turnin' back now."

"Will they be alright?" Aerith asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. They're fast, we've seen that ourselves. And there's plenty of greenery for them to eat. They'll be fine."

Tifa smiled. "Don't worry, Aerith. They know what to do."

"As do we," Red added. "Shall we go?"

"I'm ready," Aerith replied, grasping her staff.

Drawing Hardedge, I crept forward into the mines, Aerith and the others just behind me. About fifty feet or so into the tunnel, Tifa pulled out one of the flashlights and flicked it on as the light from outside fell away amidst the gloom. There was a pale green glow here and there all along the walls, and I stepped closer for a moment to get a closer look. It seemed to be coming from some kind of luminescent moss growing here and there along the rock.

"How pretty…" Aerith murmured.

We kept going, walking deeper into the passage, our steps echoing on the stone beneath our feet. A set of tracks ran down the middle of it with an empty mine cart lying on its side nearby, chunks of mythril ore spilling from the bin and onto the ground. Scattered and broken pieces of mining equipment lay everywhere, but no bodies. I guessed that the monsters had dragged off everyone who hadn't managed to escape the attack. Where were the creatures now, though? The place was empty as could be. Like a tomb. I shivered at that thought.

We followed the tunnel for a few hours until it opened into a more natural cavern. Ahead of us, the passage came to dead end that split in two different directions in a T-intersection. Both corridors wound out of sight into the darkness, the faint green aura all we could see ahead of us either way. I gazed first down one passage and then the other as Tifa shone the flashlight ahead of me.

"Which way?" she asked.

I thought for a minute. "Both. I'm not sure which direction the exit to Junon is, so it looks like we'll have to do bit of exploring. Barret, take the other flashlight and go with Red down the left tunnel. See what you can find. The girls and I will head right. We'll meet back here in twenty minutes and figure out our next move. Got it?"

"We on it, Spike," Barret nodded. "Jus' leave it to us."

"Be careful, you two," Aerith said.

Barret hefted his gun-arm and grinned. "You too, ladies."

I raised an eyebrow. "Ladies?"

"Aerith told me all 'bout your little adventure back in Wall Market the other night, Cloud. But damn, that's funny! Now I understand why Tifa was laughin' so hard when we left that clothes store. Wish I'd been there to see it!"

"You didn't…" I stared at Aerith.

She giggled, smiling with mock innocence. "Whoops…"

"It was a most fascinating story indeed," Red added. "I didn't know you had such a talent for disguise, Cloud."

"Not you, too…" I groaned.

Tifa laughed and patted me on the back. "It's alright, Cloud. It was kinda fun, actually. And you did look pretty good. I didn't even know it was you at first until Aerith told me."

I shook my head and sighed, not quite able to hide a smirk. "You're all enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Immensely!" Aerith chirped.

Barret chuckled. "You damn right we are!"

"It's all in good fun, Cloud," Tifa agreed, her eyes dancing.

I snickered. "I'll bet."

We all shared a laugh then, even Red. I didn't mind the teasing, not really. I knew Tifa was right. And I was also sure I'd get an opportunity to return the favor sooner or later. So after we were finished, I led Tifa and Aerith down the passageway to our right while Barret grabbed the other flashlight and followed Red into the left one.

The tunnel the girls and I were in went straight for a short distance before beginning to twist and turn, first to the right and then the left. I kept my eyes open for monsters, but nothing showed itself. And then I thought of that Shinra chopper and wondered if they were here, too. It wouldn't be long before we found out.

* * *

Red an' I was headin' down the lefthand tunnel for a while when it opened up into a bigger cave. The walls was all glitterin' with streaks of mythril, an' I had to crane my neck up jus' to see the ceilin' high above us. A tall ledge with vines of some thick moss hangin' from it ran along the left side of the place, an' ahead of us was a natural staircase leadin' up to a small platform surrounded by a deep-ass pit.

I walked up them stairs, stopped near the edge of the platform, an' glanced down that big hole. I couldn't see the bottom any more than I'd been able to see the top of this damn cave, an' a shiver ran up my back as I stepped away. More pieces of discarded mining equipment lay here an' there, includin' some rope, a couple dented helmets, an' a few picks. They'd been dropped in a hurry, it looked like.

"What do you suppose these were for?" Red asked.

I knew well enough. "See them rusted pitons on the ground there? Miners use 'em to hold their ropes in place so they can hang down over the edge of the chasm an' get at the ore. Gotta be veins of mythril down there embedded in the rock along the sides."

Red sniffed. "It seems hazardous."

"Damn right it is! But mythril's worth a lotta gil to the right people, folks who can shape it into weapons, armor, and all kinds of stuff. The miners know it, an' they know the risks. It's why they do it."

"Risking your life for profit?" Red wondered.

I shook my head. "It ain't jus' about that, Red. The miners need the money to support their families."

He nodded. "I see. That does make sense."

"It's dangerous, but these folks usually don't have much of a choice if they wanna survive."

"You seem to know a lot about this," Red said.

I sighed. "I do. Ya see… I was a miner once myself, years ago. Coal, not mythril. But we're still the same. We got the same goals, take on the same risks. So yeah, Red. I do know."

I knew it all too well. But I wasn't ready to talk about it. An' it's not time to go into it yet in this story of ours, either. We'll get to it later on. It's not easy tellin' it, an' I only mean to do it once. Anyway, I was 'bout to head back the way we came when I saw a flash of purple light up on that high ledge. Red glanced up there, then back at me.

"You saw it too?" It wasn't really a question.

I nodded. "Yeah. Let's check it out."

We head back to where those vines was hangin' down, an' I was jus' wonderin' how the hell I was gonna climb up there when I noticed Red backin' up a few steps. Then he bunched his muscles, ran right toward the side of the ledge, an' jumped. He caught the rock with his claws jus' a second later an' climbed up to the top.

"Whaddya see, Red?" I asked.

He came back down a minute later, a purple orb in his mouth. He tossed it to me. "A materia. Long Range, if I've sensed it right."

"The hell's that mean?" I frowned.

"If you have it equipped," Red explained, "you can hit as hard from a distance as you can when you're up close. It also enables you to reach enemies you couldn't normally."

I pocketed the orb. "Not bad. It ain't somethin' I got much need for, but Spike might find it handy."

"Indeed," Red replied. "I was thinking the same thing."

"Right. Let's head back. I wanna show Cloud what we found. An' it looks like this is a dead end anyway."

We retraced our steps, an' as we did, I wondered how Cloud an' the girls were doin' an' if they'd found a way out. I didn't like the thought of bein' stuck in this place, an' I tried not to think 'bout all the rock above our heads. I hadn't been underground in years, an' in my minin' days, I hadn't had no problem with it. Maybe it was 'cause I'd been away for so long, I dunno, but I couldn't help feelin' like the walls was pressin' in on me. I took a few deep breaths as we reached the place where we was to meet Cloud an' the girls.

Only they wasn't there.

"The hell?" I growled. "They forget or somethin'?"

Red shook his head. "Doubtful. They knew when we were to meet. I suggest we go after them."

"Awright. Let's get goin' then. They might be needin' us."

* * *

My fists raised, I ducked beneath the arc of the monster's swinging weapon, the huge iron ball whirling just overhead with a whoosh of air at the end of its chain. Before the beast—something called a Madouge, according to the Sense materia in my wrist guard—could recover from the miss, I swept in with a flurry of punches to the side of its pink torso and followed it up with a low sweep kick and knocked it off its feet. As I sprang back, Cloud spun right past me and sliced Hardedge deep into the thing's body in a chain of quick slashes.

There was a sudden flash of yellow light to my right, and I glanced over to see Aerith race in at the second Madouge, her arm moving with uncanny speed as she grabbed something first from one hand and then the other, leaving the creature's long, gray fingers exposed. She tried to dart away, but the Madouge caught her wrist just before she got out of reach and spun her back around as its other hand whipped its iron ball straight at her head. Her green eyes widened.

Aerith shrieked, but I was already there. I slammed the deadly ball away with the back of my fist, then drove a knee into the creature's gut. It doubled over, and when it did, it lost its grip on Aerith. Together, she and I pounded the creature. I hit it with a smashing uppercut that sent it into the air, and Aerith followed up with a blast of lightning from her materia and a swift backhand strike from her staff. And then, before it landed, Cloud cut the thing in two with a single leaping blow from his sword. He looked over his shoulder at Aerith. "You okay?"

"Yeah, thanks," she nodded. "You guys have great timing!"

I smirked. "We make a pretty good team."

"All of us," Cloud added.

That was true enough. After sharing a laugh together, we started to move on, but Aerith held up a hand. "Just a sec. Tifa, check these out! I took them from one of those monsters. That little Steal materia's pretty nifty, don't you think?"

"It sure is," I agreed. "What have you got?"

She held them out, and I picked them up and held them before me. They were a pair of gloves, made out of a toughened leather hide much sturdier than my old ones. It looked like they just might fit, so I pulled off my mythril claws, put them in my pack, and slid on the new gloves. They felt good, nice and tight, their dark red leather firm but flexible. I clenched and unclenched my fingers a few times, getting the feel of my new weapons and breaking them in.

I hefted my fist and grinned. "I like them, Aerith. Thanks."

"No problem! Ready to go?"

I was, so we headed onward, following the tunnel as it twisted first one way and then the other, and I hoped we wouldn't get lost in here. I had seen a few tunnel openings off to the side now and then as we had gone along, but Cloud had kept us on course through the main passage and hadn't taken any detours.

After a little while, the tunnel opened up into a larger chamber. To our left, the ground fell away in a deep chasm. The path led to another tunnel ahead and to our right but also split off to the left, where several ledges led up to an opening from which daylight shone. We had found the way out! But on the path just ahead of us stood a man I recognized right away. It was one of the Turks, the bald one. He wore a pair of dark sunglasses, a set of small silver earrings in each ear, and a short, neatly-trimmed beard with a thin moustache.

"Hello, Aerith," he glanced over at her.

She frowned. "What do you want?"

The man ignored her and looked at us. "Know who I am?"

"You're with the Turks," Cloud answered.

"Right. Since you know, this won't take long. It's not easy to explain what the Turks do."

My eyes narrowed. "Kidnapping, right?"

The man nodded. "That's putting it negatively. But… there's much more to it now. How do I say this…?"

"It's alright, Rude!" a new voice called out.

We all looked up and behind us to a high ledge. Another Turk was standing up there, a slender young woman who looked about the same age as Aerith and myself. She had short blonde hair and clear blue eyes, and her navy blue suit and tie were neatly pressed. She glared at us and then returned her attention to Rude. "I know you don't like making big speeches, so don't force it!"

"Then explain it to them, Elena," he said.

She folded her arms across her chest. "I'm Elena, the newest of the Turks. Thanks to what you did to Reno, we're shorthanded. Although I was promoted because of that. But don't even _think_ I owe you! You got that? Anyway, our job is to find out exactly where Sephiroth is headed and stop you every step of the way. Oh, wait a minute… I think it's the other way around. You're the ones getting in _our_ way… right?"

"Elena," another voice said. "You talk too much."

I turned along with Cloud and Aerith to see another man walking into the cave from the exit. Aerith stiffened immediately, and I realized I knew him as well. It was the same Turk who had been in the chopper at the Sector 7 pillar. He was the one who had taken Aerith and had let the bomb go off that had destroyed our home, our friends. Rage sprang up in me at the thought, at the ache of loss as memories of Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge rose up in my mind, scenes of better days that would never come again. I had offered, along with Cloud and Barret, to go with him to Shinra and turn ourselves in if the Turks would relent and spare the lives of everyone in the slums.

But the man had refused. And so many had died.

Above us, Elena swallowed. "Sorry, Tseng."

"You have your orders," he told her. His long, dark hair hung down past his shoulders. "Now go. Don't forget to file your report."

She saluted. "Yes, sir! I'll go after Sephiroth. We've heard rumors of him heading for Junon Harbor!"

Tseng shook his head. "Elena, you don't understand."

"Oh!" her eyes widened. "I-I'm sorry!"

The corner of my my mouth curled upward in a little smirk when I heard Elena's blunder. Cloud's matching expression told me he'd caught it as well. We had suspected that Sephiroth had been heading that way, but it was nice to have confirmation of it. Aerith couldn't hide a giggle, and Elena's stony expression only made her laugh harder.

Tseng sighed. "Go. Don't let Sephiroth get away."

Elena climbed down one of the thick, hanging vines dangling from the ledge and sprinted across the rocky path until she reached the steps rising up to the ledge where Tseng waited. Elena sprang up the natural stairs, darted past her boss, and slipped out of the cave. Tseng watched her go for a moment, then turned back to us.

"Aerith," he said. "It's been a long time. Looks like you're safe from the Shinra for a while now that Sephiroth is back."

She frowned. "What are saying? That I should be grateful to him?"

"No," he replied. "Just be careful and stay out of Shinra's way."

"Strange, coming from you," Aerith murmured.

He shrugged. "Well, then… I should be going. But I can't have you following me, either. It's nothing personal. Just my job."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Tseng snapped his fingers. "Rude. Stall them."

While Tseng walked out of the cave after Elena, Rude moved out in front of us and flexed his fists. "Reno wants to see you after his injuries have healed. He's going to show his sincere affection for you all. With a new weapon. You'll love it."

"I wouldn't count on it," I brought up my own fists.

Rude launched himself at us, but it was Cloud he went for, not me. I spun to the left as he went by, letting my right fist swing around with the motion and slamming it into his side. Then I followed it with a left hook into his gut that sent him staggering backwards in time to catch a blast of lightning from Aerith and a smack across the face from the flat of Cloud's huge sword. Rude stayed on his feet, though, shaking off the hits and grabbing Cloud by the wrists before he could get away. Cloud pulled, but Hardedge clattered to the ground, and Rude started to spin. My eyes widened as he continued to go, faster with each rotation, until he finally let go, throwing Cloud right at us.

Aerith and I flew backwards as Cloud crashed into us with a groan, and we all landed in a tangle of arms and legs. We were still struggling to get up when Rude closed in on us, a fist descending toward Cloud's face. I grabbed it in both of my hands just before it would have hit him, springing into a crouch and pulling Rude off balance and right up into my face. "I don't think so, big boy."

Gritting my teeth, I braced my feet under me, took one hand off of his wrist to grab hold of him, and leaped up into the air. At the peak of my jump, I pulled Rude back and threw him back down to the ground with a yell. He landed flat on his back with a muffled grunt of pain as I descended toward him, my fists raised. I led with a right punch, but he rolled away at the last moment. My gloved fist smashed the stone floor, shattering it at the area of impact as I touched down.

Rude took a staff to the face before he could get up, though, Aerith smacking him with a swift backhand strike that sent him sprawling on his back again. He got up quickly this time, and I ran at him. He didn't ready himself to fight back, though, but dove aside and went for Cloud instead. I didn't know why he wouldn't try to hit me, but I decided that it didn't really matter. Cloud had retrieved his sword and was swinging at him with the flat of the blade again, but Rude dodged and managed to get a few punches in before I could get there.

He blocked a second blow from Aerith's staff, knocking it aside as he dodged another strike from Cloud. I went in low, pummeling Rude with a string of punches and kicks, but no matter how many times I hit him, he wouldn't attack me. He just kept swinging at Cloud and Aerith. Then there was a flash of green light, and a bright orange blast of flame suddenly singed their bodies as they rolled away. I ducked to avoid the fire, glaring at Rude, but before I could do anything, his jaw dropped and something red, four-legged, and furry suddenly flew right over me and slammed into him, a flaming tail in its wake.

"Red!" I called.

And then a deafening stream of bullets sent Rude running away as Barret strode in, a wide grin on his face. "Thought ya might need some backup. So here we are."

Cloud nodded. "Looks like the cavalry's here."

"You bet!" Barret grinned. "Let's send this sucker packin'!"

But Rude didn't stick around. He took one look at the five of us, all poised and ready to fight, and raced to the far ledge and out of the cave exit. It wasn't until he was gone that I finally relaxed, and we all shared a laugh and patched up our wounds with potions, Cure spells, and that healing wind of Aerith's.

When we were finished, we headed up to the ledge ourselves, using the vines hanging from the walls to steady ourselves. After we got up to the top, we headed outside and into a wide, grassy slope. I breathed the fresh air long and deeply, glad to finally be free of the caves, and closed my eyes for a minute.

I opened them and saw an empty road in the distance, descending down from here to the valley below. Apparently this side of the Mythril Mines didn't see much in the way of traffic. The monsters inside might have been responsible for that, just as they had at the other end. There were also a pair of long, deep grooves in the ground nearby.

"What do you suppose those are?" I asked.

Cloud bent close to get a better look. "Must be where that chopper landed. Looks like the Turks are gone."

Barret grimaced. "We'll be seein' 'em again, though."

"No doubt," Cloud agreed, standing up.

The whole valley lay spread out before us in a wide panorama, and in the distance, a solitary mountain stood to the south and west. There was something odd about it, but it was a moment or two before I could understand what I was seeing. Its slopes were totally barren. They were brown and lifeless, with not a spot of green anywhere to be found. And there was another thing as well, something near the summit. I couldn't tell what it was, though. But it was big, that was certain.

"What's that?" I wondered.

Cloud gazed at it. "I don't know. It's too far away to tell."

"A mako reactor," Red replied. "I can just make it out. My eyes are much keener than a human's."

"What else do you see?" Cloud asked.

Red padded forward. "There is something else, something atop the reactor. But I'm afraid I can't tell what it is."

"Me either," Aerith added, a hand above her eyes.

"Seems like it's on the way," Barret mused. "So I guess we'll find out soon enough, won't we?"

Cloud nodded. "Looks like it. So let's head out."

We did, taking our time, and as the sun sank lower into the sky, we managed to put some miles behind us before dark. I had never been in this part of the world before, and I knew that we were going to see a lot more of it by the time our journey was over. It was interesting, exciting, but also sad in a way, at least for me. Every step put Midgar and all that I had lost further behind me, and I wasn't sure I was ready to let go just yet. But as Biggs and Jessie had told me before they died, I had to keep going. It was all I could really do. So, my heart still bruised at their loss and that of Wedge, my home, and the life I had known there with those three dear friends, I went on.


	32. Author's Note

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

* * *

I'm currently in the middle of doing a major revision/partial rewrite of Book One, which is why the chapter updates have slowed down. I apologize for that. I was never fully satisfied with the way Book One turned out in regards to Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge and their stories, and so the revision addresses that and expands them considerably. I'm trying to give them more time and depth so as to make Cloud's turnaround about them, his acceptance of the guys' friendship, and his and Jessie's growing attraction more believable. So to help with this, the revision doesn't start at the bombing mission but instead about two months before that, just after Tifa first finds Cloud at the train station.

I'm also doing this to bring _Lifestream_ more in line with its partner story, _Reflections,_ which focuses on Jessie, her past, and her journey to Avalanche and her final fate in the Sector 7 pillar. It'll still be a while before the revision is finished, although I have several chapters done. But I don't plan to post the revision until it's complete because I don't know that the final chapter count for Book One will be the same with the new content as it was originally and I don't want to confuse you guys. However, I _have_ included a little teaser here for you to tide you over and assure you that the story is not dead. It's an excerpt from Chapter One, though it doesn't start right at the beginning. I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Tifa motioned toward the bar. "Why don't you go sit down and I'll get you a drink? Maybe something to eat?"

"Sure, Tif. Sounds good."

"Great!" she replied. "Just make yourself at home, alright?"

I did as she had suggested and headed over to the bar, sliding onto an empty stool. It didn't take long for Tifa to bring me my drink, and I turned to watch the crowd for a bit. Next to me, a guy with short, dark red hair and a blue jacket nursed his own drink, and when he saw Tifa flash me a little smile, he scowled.

"An' justh who the hell are you?" he slurred. "Comin' on in here an' puttin' the moves on my little Tifa?"

I ignored him, not having any desire to trade insults with a drunk. I just sat there, taking a sip from my glass every so often as I wondered about what kind of work there was for a mercenary here in Midgar and if Tifa had any leads. But the guy next to me had other ideas, grabbing my arm and turning me to face him. "Hey now, don't be ignorin' me! I jush ashked ya a question, punk!"

"Cut it out, Johnny," Tifa scolded him. "He's a friend."

Johnny snorted. "A friend, huh? An' jush how good a friend, Tifa? I ain't never sheen him before."

"We grew up together. He just got in town today. And that's all you need to know. Now I think you've had enough, Johnny. Why don't you go on home? Unless you want me to have Barret see you out again. You know how he is when you get rowdy."

He threw up his hands in defeat. "Fine, fine. I'm goin', I'm goin'. But I'll shee ya tomorrow, Tifa."

"I'll bet," she snickered. "You practically live here."

"You only got the best food and drinks and… and uh, you know… in all of Sector 7, Tifa. An' you! Childhood friend! I'll be watchin' you! Don't ya dare make her cry, ya hear? She's an angel of thish here shlum! An angel! Sho you better treat her real good!"

Then he ambled away on unsteady feet, swaying woozily from one side to the other before stumbling out through the doors. When he was gone, I looked back at Tifa, raising an eyebrow. "Was he just… coming on to you back there?"

She smiled. "It's not the first time."

"I didn't think so. You weren't very surprised."

"He's liked me for a long time. I'm not interested, of course. But he _is_ persistent, I'll give him that."

I took another sip of my drink. "So I noticed."

"I can handle him," she assured me.

"I don't doubt it. You still doing your martial arts?"

Tifa nodded. "I've been keeping up with my training for years, ever since Nibelheim. It helps me focus and stay in shape."

"Good. Guess I don't have to kick his ass then if he gets outta line."

She laughed. "He ever tries anything and he'll be lying on the floor in two seconds flat. But Johnny's really not such a bad guy, Cloud. He's actually pretty nice, at least when he's not drinking."

I shrugged. "I'll take your word for it."

Tifa smirked and went off to the kitchen, chatting with a few of her customers along the way. While she did that, I swiveled around on the stool, my back to the bar, and went back to watching the crowd. It was a bit fuller than it had been earlier, with people coming and going, and filled with the murmur of conversation and bits of laughter and cheers, not all of which were entirely sober.

I was just getting ready to take another sip of my drink when I saw the double doors swing inward again as someone else stepped inside. It was a girl, her rich brown eyes bright and filled with warmth. Her long, lustrous auburn hair was pulled back into a thick ponytail and fastened with a red hair tie, and she had a matching red headband neatly tied at her left temple just above her ear. Her bangs hung down over the fabric of her headband, shadowing a pleasant, attractive face, and her cheeks bore the faint impression of dimples.

The girl was slim, shapely, and short, her figure nicely accentuated by the sculpted metal vest she wore, no doubt a custom piece that she'd probably made herself. It fit the contours of her slender body perfectly, highlighting her feminine curves rather than hiding them, and beneath it lay another vest, a lighter one made of links of black chain, probably to cushion the impact of any blows she might receive. And under it all, she wore a dark blue leotard-style top that reached all the way from her abdomen to her neck and fit like a second skin.

Two smooth metal pauldrons protected her shoulders, and the girl wore a pair of black, elbow-length fingerless gloves fitted with polished steel backs and red leather straps fastened around her wrists. Covering her legs were olive green pants that went down to her knees, and below that, metal-reinforced boots shielded her calves and feet, leaving a strip of fair skin visible on each leg at the top of her shins. Around her waist, the girl wore a brown leather belt with a rectangular pouch of the same material hanging at her left hip.

Who was this girl? What sort of work did she do that she had to go around so well-protected? I was curious in spite of myself. And try as I might, I couldn't pull my eyes away from the girl. I just sat there gazing at her, still holding my glass, and I watched as she walked casually over to one corner of the room and sat down at an empty table. She put her legs up on it, then waved to Tifa before pulling a small tablet out of her belt pouch and beginning to tap on it.

At the same time, I noticed a few rough-looking men sitting in the front glance over at her, then back at each other, a silent signal of some sort passing between them. What was going on here? And what did the men want with her? The girl didn't seem to have noticed, engrossed as she was in her work, and my eyes narrowed as I watched her unsavory observers gazing at her intently.

They wore tattered sleeveless blue jean jackets that hung open over their bare, muscled chests, and on their thick hands were red fingerless gloves stained with blood and dirt. Some of the men were bald, but the others were all sporting bright orange mohawks. I was sure they hadn't been here earlier but must have followed the girl inside, probably while I was so engrossed in looking at her. I didn't much like what was going on here and glanced at her again, and it was right at that very moment that she looked up and her eyes met mine.

The girl blinked, obviously surprised to see me. I supposed she was a regular here and knew most of the people who came to the bar. Since I was a new face, though, it had to have caught her off guard. I nodded to her, and she gave me a small, shy smile before returning to her work. I didn't get up to join her, though, wanting to keep a close eye on those goons that were so interested in her.

Their tiny, beady eyes watched the girl with a cold, predatory gaze that immediately set my nerves on edge. I knew what kind of men they were. Punks and thugs, all of them. Gang members of some kind. They waited though, and so did I. Tifa brought the girl a steaming platter of hot food and a cold drink, chatting with her for a bit before heading off again. The crowd was certainly keeping her busy tonight.

After about half an hour, the girl finally pushed back her plate and stood up, brushing off her pants and slipping her tablet back inside her belt pouch. She waved at Tifa again, smiled, and pushed the two saloon doors open before heading back outside. Almost at once, the six goons got up and left as well, no doubt intending to follow her.

I turned back to call to Tifa, but she was already there. "I'm sorry I haven't gotten to your dinner yet, Cloud. It's been pretty hectic tonight. But those guys, I don't like the looks of them."

"Neither do I, Tif. I think they're after that girl."

Tifa sighed. "I saw them watching her, too. I was just hoping I was wrong. Cloud, that girl… she's a friend of mine. She's probably walking home, and I don't think she knows she's being followed. I've taught her some of my martial arts, but she's still learning and hasn't been doing it as long as I have, and I'm just afraid it won't be enough. Please help her, Cloud. I'm worried about her."

I stood up and put down my glass. "I'll handle it."

She flashed me a grateful smile and went back to work as I hurried outside. I couldn't see anyone, but there were fresh tracks in the dirt, so I crept down the path, reaching over my shoulder to draw my sword. It was a huge blade at least a foot wide with a sharp, angled tip at the end and two materia slots at its base just above the hilt. In each one glowed a bright green orb, pulsing with magic. I hoped that I wouldn't have to use it, but I was ready if it came to that. I gripped Buster firmly in both hands and followed the trail.

It was barely five minutes later that I heard a startled cry from just around the corner, and I sprang into a run, keeping to the shadows as I went in order to retain the element of surprise. I rounded the bend and saw that the thugs had cornered the girl in a narrow alley formed from two high rows of broken scrap metal. None of them had seen or heard me yet, and I edged closer, hugging one wall and staying out of sight as long as possible so I could get the jump on them.

The girl held her own at first, kicking one goon in the stomach and hitting another with a swift backhand punch to his jaw. It couldn't last, though. She was too badly outnumbered. The men all carried weapons as well, long knives and lead pipes. One of them reached out, grabbing her by the ponytail, and yanked hard, pulling her back. She cried out in pain but swung her arm around in spite of it and smashed her fist into the goon's mouth. She was tenacious, that was for sure. Her attacker fell back, blood pouring down his chin.

But before she could do anything else, she staggered and fell, a lead pipe slamming squarely into her back. The rest of the men closed in on her at once, kicking and punching, and threw her against the wall. Two of the thugs held her arms while another pulled out a knife and strode up to her like a snake closing in on its prey. The girl flinched but didn't waver as he pressed the tip against her throat.

"We gonna teach ya not to go stealin' from us, missy," he said. "You gonna pay us back, you will. One way or another."

"Funny," she shot back. "I thought you stole it first."

He slapped her across the cheek. "You got a pretty smart mouth on you, girl. Gonna get you in trouble, it will. We gonna make you squeal, little miss. Yes, we will. In more ways than one."

"Don't count on it," I growled.

He whirled around, but I was already on him, springing out of the shadows in an instant and slashing him across the chest from shoulder to hip. The thug fell, dead before he hit the ground. While I fended off attacks from the others, the girl seized the opportunity and yanked her arms free, ducking as the two goons who had been holding her tried to grab her again but caught only air. She dove forward and sprang to her feet, her fists raised and her back to mine.

"You've got incredible timing, you know that?" she said. "I thought I was a goner for sure!"

I shook my head. "Not happening."

"Wow! Talk about heroic! You got a name?"

"Save it for later," I admonished her. "We've got work to do."

She nodded. "Right, sorry. Let's teach these bozos a lesson. They're sure gonna regret crossing us!"

The rest of the thugs the four that were still standing charged at us, swinging their weapons and snarling with rage. I blocked one strike and slammed away a second, metal clanging against metal. The girl hit one of the men with a flurry of punches, then finished with a high kick to his chest that sent him sprawling onto his back. Cutting down one of the other thugs, I was just bringing Buster back up when another of the men managed to slice his knife across the side of my shoulder. I gritted my teeth against the sudden pain, blocked everything out of my mind, and called upon the materia's magic.

Seconds later, a sparkling bolt of electricity shot out from my hand and slammed into the thug, scorching him and leaving him a smoking ruin on the ground while the girl hit the last of her attackers with a few quick jabs to his side. He fell back for a moment, then charged right at her. She was ready for him, though. When he reached her, she grabbed him with both hands and used his own momentum to throw him over her shoulder into the dirt. The surviving thugs got up, took one look at us, and ran off into the night.

"Whew!" the girl sighed. "Guess that'll teach me to be more careful about where I get my supplies."

I slid Buster back into place. "You okay?"

"Yeah, thanks to you. I've never had anyone come to my rescue like that before. You were really amazing!"

"It wasn't much," I shrugged.

She grinned. "Ha! Humble, too. I like it. But anyway, would you tell me your name? I… I'd really like to know."

"Cloud," I said. "Cloud Strife."

She held out her hand. "Nice to meet you, Cloud. I'm Jessie."


	33. Author's Note 2

Author's Note:

I've just begun posting the long-awaited major rewrite of this story, so please check it out! I apologize for the long delay. But I hope you'll agree it was worth it. The new version, like the first, is based on the original game but also incorporates elements of the remake - more than the first version did, in fact. But there is also a lot of new material as well, to create another version of the classic story. It's also told through the eyes of Cloud and his friends like the first version was, so the style is very similar. Enjoy, and leave feedback anytime! You can find it here on FFN same as my other work. Look for Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 1: Midgar. Thanks!


End file.
